THE  LIBRARY- 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 

IN  MEMORY  OF 
MRS.  VIRGINIA  B.  SPORER 


THE 

BLOCKADE  OF  PHALSBURG 

AN  EPISODE  OF  THE  END  OF  THE  EMPIRE 


ALL  WERE  DEAD,   AS   IT   WERE  ONE  LONG  CEMETERY. 


THE  BLOCKADE  OF 
PHALSBURG 

AN  EPISODE  OF  THE  END  OF  THE  EMPIRE 


TRANSLATED  FROM  THE  FRENCH  OF 

ERCKMANN-CHATRIAN 


ILLUSTRATED 


NEW  YORK 

CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS 

1904 


COPYRIGHT,  1871,  BY 
CHARLES  SCRIBNER  &  CO. 


COPYRIGHT,  1889  AND  1898, 
BY  CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS 


CONTENTS 

CHAP.  PA31S 

I.  FATHER  MOSES  AND  HIS  FAMILY,        ...  1 

II.  FATHER  MOSES'S  SPECULATION,  ....  17 

III.  A  CIRCUMCISION  FEAST,       .....  27 

IV.  FATHER  MOSES  COMPELLED  TO  BEAR  ARMS,     .  37 
V.  FATHER  MOSES  RECEIVES  WELCOME  NEWS,      .  53 

VI.  A  DISAGREEABLE  GUEST, 63 

VII.  SERGEANT  TRUBERT  IN  A  NEW  LIGHT,     .        .    76 
VIII.  FATHER  MOSES'S  FIRST  ENCOUNTER,  .        .        .84 

IX.  APPROACH  OF  THE  ENEMY, 99 

X.  AN  ENGAGEMENT  WITH  THE  COSSACKS,       .        .  Ill 

XL  FATHER  MOSES  RETURNS  IN  TRIUMPH,      .        .  125 

XII.  THE  ENEMY  REPULSED, 136 

XIII.  A  DESERTER  CAPTURED, 157 

XIV.  BURGUET'S  VISIT  TO  THE  DESERTER,  .       .        .  181 
XV.  TRIAL  OP  THE  DESERTER 193 

XVI.  A  SORTIE  OF  THE  GARRISON,      ....  215 

XVII.  FAMINE  AND  FEVER, 242 

XVIII.  DEATH  OF  LITTLE  DAVID 253 

XIX.  THE  PASSOVER, 267 

XX.  PEACE 280 

XXL  .  299 


2041938 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


ALL  WERE  DEAD,  AS  IT  WERE  ONE  LONG  CEMETERY, 

Frontispiece 

XACINO 
PAGE 

"Hs  WILL   BE   THE   BLESSING  OP  His  RACE  AND  THE 

JOT  OF  OUR  OLD  AGE!" 14 

"Bs  so  GOOD  AS  TO  COME  IN,  MR.  SERGEANT,"  .  .  70 
"An,  WRETCH  OF  A  JEW,  THOU'LT  PAY  FOR  THIS!"  .  92 
I  SHUDDERED  IN  MY  VERY  SOUL  AND  MY  HAIR  BRISTLED,  120 

FOUR  HUNDRED  WERE  FOUND  SCATTERED  IN  THE  DITCHES 

OF  THE  ROAD, 150 

IT  WAS  AGAINST  NATURE  TO  SEND  FATHERS  OF  FAMILIES 

ROAMING  ABOUT  THROUGH  THE  MUD  IN  DANGER,    .  168 

WINTER  TOOK  HIM  BY  THE  COLLAR,  AND  SAID:   "I  HAVE 

You  NOW!"      ....'....  174 

BURGUET, 200 

THE  SORTIE  FROM  THE  TILE-KILN, 226 

"BARUCH!  BARUCH!  SAVE  YOUR  CHILD,"  .  .  .  262 
*THE  LORD  WANTED  TO  HAVE  THEE  NEAR  His  THRONE!"  270 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTE 

"  The  Blockade  of  Phalsbnrg  "  contains  one  of 
the  happiest  portraits  in  the  Erckmann-Chatrian 
gallery — that  of  the  Jew  Moses  who  tells  the  story 
and  who  is  always  in  character,  however  great  the 
patriotic  or  romantic  temptation  to  idealize  him, 
and  whose  character  is  nevertheless  portrayed  with 
an  almost  affectionate  appreciation  of  the  sterling 
qualities  underlying  its  somewhat  usurious  exte- 
rior. 

The  time  is  1814,  during  the  invasion  of  France 
by  the  allies  after  the  disastrous  battle  of  Leipsic 
and  the  campaign  described  in  "  The  Conscript." 
The  dwellers  in  Phalsburg — a  little  walled  town  of 
two  or  three  thousand  inhabitants  in  Lorraine — 
defend  themselves  with  great  intrepidity  and  de- 
termination during  the  siege  which  lasts  until  the 
capitulation  of  Paris.  The  daily  life  of  the  citizens 
and  garrison,  the  various  incidents  of  the  blockade, 
the  bombardment  by  night,  the  scarcity  of  food, 
the  occasional  sortie  for  foraging,  all  pass  before 

ix 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTE 


the  reader  depicted  with  the  authors'  customary 
fidelity  and  lif  e-likene'ss,  and  form  as  perfect  a  pict- 
ure of  a  siege  as  "  The  Conscript "  does  of  a  cam- 
paign. 


THE  BLOCKADE: 

AN  EPISODE  OF 

THE  END  OF  THE  EMPIRE 


FATHER   MOSES    AND    HIS   FAMILY 

SINCE  you  wish  to  know  about  the  blockade  of 
Phalsburg  in  1814, 1  will  tell  you  all  about  it,  said 
Father  Moses  of  the  Jews'  street. 

I  lived  then  in  the  little  house  on  the  corner,  at 
the  right  of  the  market.  My  business  was  selling 
iron  by  the  pound,  under  the  arch  below,  and  I  lived 
above  with  my  wife  Sorle  (Sarah)  and  my  little 
Saf  el,  the  child  of  my  old  age. 

My  two  other  boys,  Itzig  and  Fromel,  had  gone 
to  America,  and  my  daughter  Zeffen  was  married  to 
Baruch,  the  leather-dealer,  at  Saverne. 

Besides  my  iron  business,  I  traded  in  old  shoes, 
old  linen,  and  all  the  articles  of  old  clothing  which 
conscripts  sell  on  reaching  the  depot,  where  they 


3  THE   BLOCKADE 

receive  their  military  outfit.  Travelling  pedlers 
bought  the  old  linen  of  me  for  paper-rags,  and  the 
other  things  I  sold  to  the  country  people. 

This  was  a  profitable  business,  because  thousands 
of  conscripts  passed  through  Phalsburg  from  week 
to  week,  and  from  month  to  month.  They  were 
measured  at  once  at  the  mayoralty,  clothed,  and 
filed  off  to  Mayence,  Strasburg,  or  wherever  it 
might  be. 

This  lasted  a  long  time;  but  at  length  people 
were  tired  of  war,  especially  after  the  Kussian,  cam- 
paign and  the  great  recruiting  of  1813. 

You  may  well  suppose,  Fritz,  that  I  did  not  wait 
till  this  time  before  sending  my  two  boys  beyond 
the  reach  of  the  recruiting  officers'  clutches.  They 
were  boys  who  did  not  lack  sense.  At  twelve  years 
old  their  heads  were  clear  enough,  and  rather  than 
go  and  fight  for  the  King  of  Prussia,  they  would 
see  themselves  safe  at  the  ends  of  the  earth. 

At  evening,  when  we  sat  at  supper  around  the 
lamp  with  its  seven  burners,  their  mother  would 
sometimes  cover  her  face  and  say: 

"  My  poor  children !  My  poor  children !  When 
I  think  that  the  time  is  near  when  you  will  go 
in  the  midst  of  musket  and  bayonet  fire — in 
the  midst  of  thunder  and  lightning! — oh,  how 
dreadful! " 


THE   BLOCKADE  3 

And  I  saw  them  turn  pale.  I  smiled  at  myself 
and  thought :  "  You  are  no  fools.  You  will  hold 
on  to  your  life.  That  is  right !  " 

If  I  had  had  children  capable  of  becoming  sol- 
diers, I  should  have  died  of  grief.  I  should  have 
said,  "  These  are  not  of  my  race !  " 

But  the  boys  grew  stronger  and  handsomer. 
When  Itzig  was  fifteen  he  was  doing  a  good  busi- 
ness. He  bought  cattle  in  the  villages  on  his  own 
account,  and  sold  them  at  a  profit  to  butcher  Bo- 
rich  at  Mittelbronn;  and  Fromel  was  not  behind 
him,  for  he  made  the  best  bargains  of  the  old  mer- 
chandise, which  we  had  heaped  in  three  barracks 
under  the  market. 

I  should  have  liked  well  to  keep  the  boys  with 
me.  It  was  my  delight  to  see  them  with  my  little 
Safel — the  curly  head  and  eyes  bright  as  a  squir- 
rel's— yes,  it  was  my  joy !  Often  I  clasped  them  in 
my  arms  without  a  word,  and  even  they  wondered 
at  it;  I  frightened  them;  but  dreadful  thoughts 
passed  through  my  mind  after  1812.  I  knew  that 
whenever  the  Emperor  had  returned  to  Paris,  he 
had  demanded  four  hundred  millions  of  francs  and 
two  or  three  hundred  thousand  men,  and  I  said  to 
myself: 

"  This  time,  everybody  must  go,  even  children 
of  seventeen  and  eighteen  1 " 


4  THE   BLOCKADE 

As  the  tidings  grew  worse  and  worse,  I  said  to 
them  one  evening: 

"  Listen !  you  Loth  understand  trading,  and 
what  you  do  not  yet  know  you  can  learn.  Now, 
if  you  wait  a  few  months,  you  will  be  on  the  con- 
scription list,  and  be  like  all  the  rest;  they  will 
take  you  to  the  square  and  show  you  how  to  load 
a  gun,  and  then  you  will  go  away,  and  I  never  shall 
hear  of  you  again !  " 

Sorle  sighed,  and  we  all  sighed  together.  Then, 
after  a  moment,  I  continued: 

"  But  if  you  set  out  at  once  for  America,  by  the 
way  of  Havre,  you  will  reach  it  safe  and  sound ;  you 
will  do  business  there  as  well  as  here;  you  will 
make  money,  you  will  marry,  you  will  increase  ac- 
cording to  the  Lord's  promise,  and  you  will  send 
me  back  money,  according  to  God's  commandment, 
'  Honor  thy  father  and  thy  mother.'  I  will  bless 
you  as  Isaac  blessed  Jacob,  and  you  will  have  a 
long  life.  Choose !  " 

They  at  once  chose  to  go  to  America,  and  I  went 
with  them  myself  as  far  as  Sorreburg.  Each  of 
them  had  made  twenty  louis  in  his  own  business, 
so  that  I  needed  to  give  them  nothing  but  my  bless- 
ing. 

And  what  I  said  to  them  has  come  to  pass;  they 
are  both  living,  they  have  numerous  children,  who 


THE   BLOCKADE  5 

\ 

are  my  descendants,  and  when  I  want  anything  they 
send  it  to  me. 

Itzig  and  Fromel  being  gone,  I  had  only  Safe] 
left,  my  Benjamin,  dearer  even,  if  possible,  than 
the  others.  And  then,  too,  I  had  my  daughter  Zef- 
fen,  married  at  Saverne  to  a  good  respectable  man, 
Baruch;  she  was  the  oldest,  and  had  already  given 
me  a  grandson  named  David,  according  to  the 
Lord's  will  that  the  dead  should  be  replaced  in  his 
own  family,  and  David  was  the  name  of  Baruch's 
grandfather.  The  one  expected  was  to  be  called 
after  my  father,  Esdraa. 

You  see,  Fritz,  how  I  was  situated  before  the 
blockade  of  Phalsburg,  in  1814.  Everything  had 
gone  well  up  to  that  time,  but  for  six  weeks  every- 
thing had  gone  wrong  in  town  and  country.  We 
had  the  typhus;  thousands  of  wounded  soldiers 
surrounded  the  houses;  the  ground  had  lacked  la- 
borers for  the  last  two  years,  and  everything  was 
dear — bread,  meat,  and  drink.  The  people  of  Al- 
sace and  Lorraine  did  not  come  to  market;  our 
stores  of  merchandise  did  not  sell;  and  when  mer- 
chandise does  not  sell,  it  might  as  well  be  sand  or 
stones;  we  are  poor  in  the  midst  of  abundance. 
Famine  comes  from  every  quarter. 

Ah,  well!  in  spite  of  it  all,  the  Lord  had  a  great 
blessing  in  store  for  me,  for  just  at  this  time,  early 


6  THE   BLOCKADE 

in  November,  came  the  news  that  a  second  son  was 
born  to  Zeffen,  and  that  he  was  in  fine  health.  I 
was  so  glad  that  I  set  out  at  once  for  Saverne. 

You  must  know,  Fritz,  that  if  I  was  very  glad, 
it  was  not  only  on  account  of  the  birth  of  a  grand- 
son, but  also  because  my  son-in-law  would  not  be 
obliged  to  leave  home,  if  the  child  lived.  Baruch 
had  always  been  fortunate;  at  the  moment  when 
the  Emperor  had  made  the  Senate  vote  that  unmar- 
ried men  must  go,  he  had  just  married  Zeffen;  and 
when  the  Senate  voted  that  married  men  without 
children  must  go,  he  had  his  first  child.  Now, 
after  the  bad  news,  it  was  voted  that  married  men 
with  only  one  child  should  go,  all  the  same,  and 
Baruch  had  two. 

At  that  time  it  was  a  fortunate  thing  to  have 
quantities  of  children,  to  keep  you  from  being  mas- 
sacred; no  greater  blessing  could  be  desired!  This 
is  why  I  took  my  cane  at  once,  to  go  and  find  out 
whether  the  child  were  sound  and  healthy,  and 
whether  it  would  save  its  father. 

But  for  long  years  to  come,  if  God  spares  my 
life,  I  shall  remember  that  day,  and  what  I  met 
upon  my  way. 

Imagine  the  road-side  blocked,  as  it  were,  with 
carts  filled  with  the  sick  and  wounded,  forming  a 
line  all  the  way  from  Quatre- Vents  to  Saverne. 


THE   BLOCKADE  7 

The  peasants  who,  in  Alsace,  were  required  to 
transport  these  poor  creatures,  had  unharnessed 
their  horses  and  escaped  in  the  night,  abandoning 
their  carts;  the  hoar-frost  had  passed  over  them; 
there  was  not  motion  or  sign  of  life — all  dead,  as  it 
were  one  long  cemetery !  Thousands  of  ravens  cov- 
ered the  sky  like  a  cloud;  there  was  nothing  to  be 
seen  but  wings  moving  in  the  air,  nothing  to  be 
heard  but  one  murmur  of  innumerable  cries.  I 
would  not  have  believed  that  heaven  and  earth 
could  produce  so  many  ravens.  They  flew  down  to 
the  very  carts;  but  the  moment  a  living  man  ap- 
proached, all  these  creatures  rose  and  flew  away 
to  the  forest  of  La  Bonne-Fontaine,  or  the  ruins  of 
the  old  convent  of  Dann. 

As  for  myself,  I  lengthened  my  steps,  feeling 
that  I  must  not  stop,  that  the  typhus  was  march- 
ing at  my  heels. 

Happily  the  winter  sets  in  early  at  Phalsburg. 
A  cold  wind  blew  from  the  Schneeberg,  and  these 
strong  draughts  of  mountain  air  disperse  all  mala- 
dies, even,  it  is  said,  the  Black  Plague  itself. 

What  I  have  now  told  you  is  about  the  retreat 
from  Leipsic,  in  the  beginning  of  November. 

When  I  reached  Saverne,  the  city  was  crowded 
with  troops,  artillery,  infantry,  and  cavalry,  pell- 
mell. 


8  THE   BLOCKADE 

I  remember  that,  in  the  principal  street,  the  win- 
dows of  an  inn  were  open,  and  a  long  table  with, 
its  white  cloth  was  seen,  all  laid,  within.  All  the 
guard  of  honor  stopped  there.  These  were  young 
men  of  rich  families,  who  had  money  in  spite  of 
their  tattered  uniforms.  The  moment  they  saw 
this  table  in  passing,  they  leaped  from  their  horses 
and  rushed  into  the  hall.  But  the  innkeeper, 
Hannes,  made  them  pay  five  francs  in  advance, 
and  just  as  the  poor  things  began  to  eat,  a  servant 
ran  in,  crying  out,  "  The  Prussians !  the  Prus- 
sians! "  They  sprang  up  at  once  and  mounted 
their  horses  like  madmen,  without  once  looking 
back,  and  in  this  way  Hannes  sold  his  dinner  more 
than  twenty  times. 

I  have  often  thought  since  that  such  scoundrels 
deserve  hanging;  yes,  this  way  of  making  money 
is  not  lawful  business.  It  disgusted  me. 

But  if  I  should  describe  the  rest — the  faces  of 
the  sick,  the  way  in  which  they  lay,  the  groans 
they  uttered,  and,  above  all,  the  tears  of  those  who 
tried  in  Vain  to  go  on — if  I  should  tell  you  this, 
it  would  be  still  worse,  it  would  be  too  much.  I 
saw,  on  the  slope  of  the  old  tan-house  bridge,  a  little 
guardsman  of  seventeen  or  eighteen  years,  stretched 
out,  with  his  face  flat  upon  the  stones.  I  have 
never  forgotten  that  boy;  he  raised  himself  from. 


THE   BLOCKADE  9 

time  to  time,  and  showed  his  hand  as  black  as  soot: 
he  had  a  ball  in  the  back,  and  his  hand  was  half 
gone.  The  poor  fellow  had  doubtless  fallen  from  a 
cart.  Nobody  dared  to  help  him  because  they 
heard  it  said,  "  He  has  the  typhus!  he  has  the  ty- 
phus." Oh,  what  misery!  It  is  too  dreadful  to 
think  of! 

Now,  Fritz,  I  must  tell  you  another  thing  about 
that  day,  and  that  is  how  I  saw  Marshal  Victor. 

It  was  late  when  I  started  from  Phalsburg,  and 
it  was  dark  when,  on  going  up  the  principal  street 
of  Saverne,  I  saw  all  the  windows  of  the  Hotel  du 
Soleil  illuminated  from  top  to  bottom.  Two  sen- 
tinels walked  to  and  fro  under  the  arch,  officers  in 
full  uniform  went  in  and  out,  magnificent  horses 
were  fastened  to  rings  all  along  the  walls;  and, 
within  the  court,  the  lamps  of  a  calash  shone  like 
two  stars. 

The  sentinels  kept  the  street  clear,  but  I  must 
pass,  because  Baruch  dwelt  farther  on.  I  was  going 
through  the  crowd,  in  front  of  the  hotel,  and  the 
first  sentinel  was  calling  out  to  me,  "  Back!  back!  " 
when  an  officer  of  hussars,  a  short,  stout  man,  with 
great  red  whiskers,  came  out  of  the  arch,  and  as  he 
met  me,  exclaimed, 

"  Ah!  is  it  you,  Moses!    I  am  glad  to  see  you!  n 

He  shook  hands  with  me. 


io  THE   BLOCKADE 

I  opened  my  eyes  with  amazement,  as  was  nat- 
ural: a  superior  officer  shaking  hands  with  a  plain 
citizen  is  not  an  every-day  occurrence.  I  looked  at 
him  in  astonishment,  and  recognized  Commandant 
Zimmer. 

Thirty  years  before  we  had  been  at  Father 
Genaudet's  school,  and  we  had  scoured  the  city, 
the  moats,  and  the  glacis  together,  as  children. 
But  since  then  Zimmer  had  been  a  good  many 
times  in  Phalsburg,  without  remembering  his  old 
comrade,  Samuel  Moses. 

"  Ho !  "  said  he,  smiling,  and  taking  me  by  the 
arm,  "  come,  I  must  present  you  to  the  marshal." 

And,  in  spite  of  myself,  before  I  had  said  a 
word,  I  went  in  under  the  arch,  into  a  large  room 
where  two  long  tables,  loaded  with  lights  and 
bottles,  were  laid  for  the  staff-officers. 

A  number  of  superior  officers,  generals,  colonels, 
commanders  of  hussars,  of  dragoons  and  of  chas- 
seurs, in  plumed  hats,  in  helmets,  in  red  shakos, 
their  chins  in  their  huge  cravats,  their  swords  drag- 
ging, were  walking  silently  back  and  forth,  or  talk- 
ing with  each  other,  while  they  waited  to  be  called 
to  table. 

It  was  difficult  to  pass  through  the  crowd,  but 
Zimmer  kept  hold  of  my  arm,  and  led  me  to  the 
end  of  the  room,  to  a  little  lighted  door. 


THE  BLOCKADE  n 

"We  entered  a  high,  room,  with  two  windows 
opening  upon  the  gardens. 

The  marshal  was  there,  standing,  his  head  un- 
covered; his  back  was  toward  us,  and  he  was 
dictating  orders  which  two  staff-officers  were  writ- 
ing- 

This  was  all  which  I  noticed  at  the  moment,  in 
my  confusion. 

Just  after  we  entered,  the  marshal  turned;  I 
saw  that  he  had  the  good  face  of  an  old  Lorraine 
peasant.  He  was  a  tall,  powerful  man,  with  a  gray- 
ish head;  he  was  about  fifty  years  old,  and  very 
heavy  for  his  age. 

"  Marshal,  here's  our  man !  "  said  Zimmer.  "  He 
is  one  of  my  old  school-mates,  Samuel  Moses,  a  first- 
rate  fellow,  who  has  been  traversing  the  country 
these  thirty  years,  and  knows  every  village  in  Al- 
sace and  Lorraine." 

The  marshal  looked  at  me  a  few  steps  off.  I 
held  my  hat  in  my  hand  in  great  fear.  After  look- 
ing at  me  a  couple  of  seconds,  he  took  the  paper 
which  one  of  the  secretaries  handed  him,  read  and 
signed  it,  then  turned  back  to  me: 

"  Well,  my  good  man,"  said  he,  "  what  do  they 
say  about  the  last  campaign?  What  do  the  people 
in  your  village  think  about  it?  " 

On  hearing  him  call  me  "  my  good  man,"  I  took 


12  THE   BLOCKADE 

courage,  and  answered  "  that  the  typhus  had  made 
bad  work,  but  the  people  were  not  disheartened, 
because  they  knew  that  the  Emperor  with  his  army 
was  at  hand." 

And  when  he  said  abruptly:  "  Yes!  But  will 
they  defend  themselves?  "  I  answered:  "  The  Al- 
satians and  the  Lorraines  are  people  who  will  de- 
fend themselves  till  death,  because  they  love  their 
Emperor,  and  they  would  all  be  willing  to  die  for 
him!" 

I  said  that  by  way  of  prudence;  but  he  could 
plainly  see  in  my  face  that  I  was  no  fighting  man, 
for  he  smiled  good-humorcdly,  and  said:  "  That 
wil  do,  commandant,  that  is  enough!  " 

The  secretaries  had  kept  on  writing.  Zimmer 
made  a  sign  to  me  and  we  went  out  together. 
When  we  were  outside  he  called  out: 

"  Good-by,  Moses,  good-by!  " 

The  sentinels  let  me  pass,  and  still  trembling, 
I  continued  my  journey. 

I  was  soon  knocking  at  the  little  door  of  Ba- 
ruch's  house  at  the  end  of  the  lane  where  the  car- 
dinal's old  stables  were. 

It  was  pitch  dark. 

What  a  joy  it  was,  Fritz,  after  having  seen  all 
these  terrible  things,  to  come  to  the  place  where 
those  I  loved  were  resting!  How  softly  my  heart 


THE   BLOCKADE  13 

beat,  and  how  I  pitied  all  that  power  and  glory 
which  made  so  many  people  miserable! 

After  a  moment  I  heard  my  son-in-law  enter  the 
passage  and  open  the  door.  Baruch  and  Zeffen  had 
long  since  ceased  expecting  me. 

"  Is  it  you,  my  father?  "  asked  Baruch. 

"  Yes,  my  son,  it  is  L  I  am  late.  I  have  been 
hindered." 

"Come!  "said  he. 

And  we  entered  the  little  passage,  and  then  into 
the  chamber  where  Zeffen,  my  daughter,  lay  pale 
and  happy,  upon  her  bed. 

She  had  recognized  my  voice.  As  for  me,  my 
heart  beat  with  joy;  I  could  not  speak;  and  I  em- 
braced my  daughter,  while  I  looked  around  to  find 
the  little  one.  Zeffen  held  it  in  her  arms  under  the 
coverlet. 

"  There  he  is!  "  she  said. 

Then  she  showed  him  to  me  in  his  swaddling- 
clothes.  I  saw  at  once  that  he  was  plump  and 
healthy,  with  his  little  hands  closed  tight,  and  I 
exclaimed: 

"  Baruch,  this  is  Esdras,  my  father!  Let  him 
be  welcome!  " 

I  wanted  to  see  him  without  his  clothes,  so  I 
undressed  him.  It  was  warm  in  the  little  room 
from  the  lamp  with  seven  burners.  Tremblingly 


14  THE   BLOCKADE 

I  undressed  him;  lie  did  not  cry,  and  my  daughter's 
white  hands  assisted  me : 

"  Wait,  my  father,  wait !  "  said  she. 

My  son-in-law  looked  on  behind  me.  We  all 
had  tears  in  our  eyes. 

At  last  I  had  him  all  undressed;  he  was  rosy, 
and  his  large  head  tossed  about,  sleeping  the  sleep 
of  centuries.  Then  I  lifted  him  above  my  head; 
I  looked  at  his  round  thighs  all  in  creases,  at  his 
little  drawn-up  feet,  his  broad  chest  and  plump 
back,  and  I  wanted  to  dance  like  David  before  the 
ark;  I  wanted  to  chant :  "  Praise  the  Lord!  Praise 
him  ye  servants  of  the  Lord!  Praise  the  name  of 
the  Lord!  Blessed  be  the  name  of  the  Lord  from 
this  time  forth  and  forever  more !  From  the  rising 
of  the  sun,  unto  the  going  down  of  the  same,  the 
Lord's  name  is  to  be  praised!  The  Lord  is  high 
above  all  nations,  and  his  glory  above  the  heavens! 
Who  is  like  unto  the  Lord  our  God,  who  raiseth 
up  the  poor  out  of  the  dust,  who  maketh  the  barren 
woman  to  keep  house,  and  to  be  a  joyful  mother  of 
children?  Praise  ye  the  Lord!  " 

Yes,  I  felt  like  chanting  this,  but  all  that  I 
could  say  was:  "  He  is  a  fine,  perfect  child!  He  is 
going  to  live!  He  will  be  the  blessing  of  our  race 
and  the  joy  of  our  old  age !  " 

And  I  blessed  them  all. 


"  HE  WILL  BE  THE  BLESSING  OF  HIS  RACE,  AND  THE  JOY  OF  OUR  OLD  AGE.r 


THE   BLOCKADE  15 

Then  givmg  him  back  to  his  mother  to  be  cov- 
ered, I  went  to  embrace  the  other  who  was  sound 
asleep  in  his  cradle. 

We  remained  there  together  a  long  time,  to  see 
each  other,  in  this  joy.  Without,  horses  were  pass- 
ing, soldiers  shouting,  carriages  rolling  by.  Here 
all  was  quiet :  the  mother  nursed  her  infant. 

Ah!  Fritz,  I  am  an  old  man  now,  and  these 
far-off  things  are  always  before  me,  as  at  the  first; 
my  heart  always  beats  in  recalling  them,  and  I 
thank  God  for  His  great  goodness, — I  thank  Him. 
He  has  loaded  me  with  years,  He  has  permitted  me 
to  see  the  third  generation,  and  I  am  not  weary  of 
life ;  I  should  like  to  live  on  and  see  the  fourth  and 
the  fifth — His  will  be  done! 

I  should  have  liked  to  tell  them  of  what  had 
just  happened  to  me  at  the  Hotel  du  Soleil,  but 
everything  was  insignificant  in  comparison  with 
mv  j°y5  onty  after  I  had  left  the  chamber,  while  I 
was  taking  a  mouthful  of  bread  and  drinking  a 
glass  of  wine  in  the  side  hall  so  as  to  let  Zeffen 
sleep,  I  related  the  adventure  to  Baruch,  who  was 
greatly  surprised. 

"  Listen,  my  son,"  said  I,  "  this  man  asked  me 
if  we  want  to  defend  ourselves.  That  shows  that 
the  allies  are  following  our  armies,  that  they  are 
marching  by  hundreds  of  thousands,  and  that  they 


16  THE   BLOCKADE 

cannot  be  hindered  from  entering  France.  So  you 
see  that,  in  the  midst  of  our  joy,  there  is  danger 
of  terrible  evils;  you  see  that  all  the  harm  which 
we  have  been  doing  to  others  for  these  last  ten 
years  may  return  upon  us.  I  fear  so.  God  grant 
that  I  may  be  mistaken !  " 

After  this  we  went  to  bed.     It  was  eleven  o'clock, 
and  the  tumult  without  still  continued. 


n 

FATHEB  MOSES'S   SPECULATION 

EARLY  the  next  morning,  after  breakfast,  I  took 
my  cane  to  return  to  Phalsburg.  Zeffen  and  Ba- 
ruch  wanted  to  keep  me  longer,  but  I  said: 

"  You  do  not  think  of  your  mother,  who  is  ex- 
pecting me.  She  does  not  keep  still  a  minute;  she 
keeps  going  upstairs  and  down,  and  looking  out  of 
the  window.  No,  I  must  go.  Sorle  must  not  be 
uneasy  while  we  are  comfortable." 

Zeffen  said  no  more,  and  filled  my  pockets  with 
apples  and  nuts  for  her  brother  Safel.  I  embraced 
them  again,  the  little  ones  and  the  big;  then  Baruch 
led  me  far  back  of  the  gardens,  to  the  place  where 
the  roads  to  Schlittenbach  and  Lutzelburg  divide. 

The  troops  had  all  left,  only  stragglers  and  the 
sick  remaining.  But  we  could  still  see  the  line  of 
carts  in  the  distance,  on  the  hill,  and  bands  of  day- 
laborers  who  had  been  set  to  work  digging  graves 
back  of  the  road. 

The  very  thought  of  passing  that  way  disturbed 

2  17 


i8  THE   BLOCKADE 

me.  I  shook  hands  with  Baruch  at  this  fork  of  the 
road,  promising  to  come  again  with  grandmother  to 
the  circumcision,  and  then  took  the  valley  road, 
which  follows  the  Zorn  through  the  woods. 

This  path  was  full  of  dead  leaves,  and  for  two 
hours  I  walked  on  thinking  at  times  of  the  Hotel  du 
Soleil,  of  Zimmer,  of  Marshal  Victor,  whom  I 
seemed  to  see  again,  with  his  tall  figure,  his  square 
shoulders,  his  gray  head,  and  coat  covered  with  em- 
broidery. Sometimes  I  pictured  to  myself  Zeffen's 
chamber,  the  little  babe  and  its  mother;  then  the 
war  which  threatened  us — that  mass  of  enemies  ad- 
vancing from  every  side ! 

Several  times  I  stopped  in  the  midst  of  these  val- 
leys sloping  into  each  other  as  far  as  the  eye  can 
reach,  all  covered  with  firs,  oaks  and  beeches,  and  I 
said  to  myself: 

"  Who  knows?  Perhaps  the  Prussians,  Aus- 
trians  and  Russians  will  soon  pass  along  here !  " 

But  there  was  comfort  in  this  thought;  "  Moses, 
your  two  boys,  Itzig  and  Fromel,  are  in  America  far 
from  the  reach  of  cannon;  they  are  there  with  their 
packs  on  their  shoulders,  going  from  village  to  vil- 
lage without  danger.  And  your  daughter  Zeffen, 
too,  may  sleep  in  quiet;  Baruch  has  two  fine  chil- 
dren, and  will  have  another  every  year  while  the  war 
lasts.  He  will  sell  leather  to  make  bags  and  shoes 


THE   BLOCKADE  19 

for  those  who  have  to  go,  but,  for  his  part,  he  will 
stay  at  home." 

I  smiled  as  I  thought  that  I  was  too  old  to  be  con- 
scripted, that  I  was  a  gray-head,  and  the  conscript- 
ors  could  have  none  of  us.  Yes;  I  smiled  as'I  saw 
that  I  had  acted  very  wisely  in  everything,  and  that 
the  Lord  had,  as  it  were,  cleared  my  path. 

It  is  a  great  satisfaction,  Fritz,  to  see  that  every- 
thing is  working  to  our  advantage. 

In  the  midst  of  these  thoughts  I  came  quietly  to 
Lutzelburg,  and  I  went  to  Brestel's  at  the  Swan 
Hotel  to  take  a  cup  of  coffee. 

There  I  found  Bernard,  the  soap  merchant,  whom 
you  do  not  know — a  little  man,  bald  to  the  very  nape 
of  the  neck,  with  great  wens  on  his  head — and  Dona- 
dieu,  the  Harberg  forest-keeper.  One  had  laid  his 
dosser  and  the  other  his  gun  against  the  wall,  and 
they  were  emptying  a  bottle  of  wine  between  them. 
Brestel  was  helping. 

"  Ha!  it  is  Moses,"  exclaimed  Bernard. 
"  Where  the  devil  dost  thou  come  from,  so  early  in 
the  morning!  " 

Christians  in  those  days  were  in  the  habit  of  thou- 
ing  the  Jews — even  the  old  men.  I  answered  that 
I  had  come  from  Saverne,  by  the  valley. 

"  Ah !  thou  hast  seen  the  wounded,"  said  the 
keeper.  "  What  thinkest  thou  of  that,  Moses!  " 


20  THE   BLOCKADE 

"  I  have  seen  them,"  I  replied  sadly,  "  I  saw  them 
last  evening.  It  is  dreadful!  " 

"  Yes,  it  is;  everybody  has  gone  up  there  to-day, 
because  old  Gredal  of  Quatre- Vents  found  her 
nephew  under  a  cart — Joseph  Bertha,  the  little  lame 
watchmaker  who  worked  last  year  with  Father 
Goulden;  so  the  people  from  Dagsberg,  Houpe,  and 
Garburg,  expect  to  find  their  brothers,  or  sons,  or 
cousins  in  the  heap." 

He  shrugged  his  shoulders  compassionately. 

"  These  things  are  dreadful,"  said  Brestel,  "  but 
they  must  come.  There  has  been  no  business  these 
two  years;  I  have  back  here,  in  my  court,  three  thou- 
sand pounds'  worth  of  planks  and  timber.  That 
would  formerly  have  lasted  me  for  six  weeks  or  two 
months;  but  now  it  is  all  rotting  on  the  spot;  nobody 
wants  it  on  the  Sarre,  nobody  wants  it  in  Alsace,  no- 
body orders  anything  or  buys  anything.  It  is  just 
so  with  the  hotel.  Nobody  has  a  sous;  everybody 
stays  at  home,  thankful  if  they  have  potatoes  to  eat 
and  cold  water  to  drink.  Meanwhile  my  wine  arid 
beer  turn  sour  in  the  cellar,  and  are  covered  with 
mildew.  And  all  that  does  not  keep  off  the 
duties;  you  must  pay,  or  the  officer  will  be  upon 
you." 

"  Yes,"  cried  Bernard,  "  it  is  the  same  thing 
everywhere.  But  what  is  it  to  the  Emperor  whether 


THE   BLOCKADE  21 

planks  and  soap  sell  or  not,  provided  the  contribu- 
tions come  in  and  the  conscripts  arrive?  " 

Donadieu  perceived  that  his  comrade  had  taken 
a  glass  too  much;  he  rose,  put  back  his  gun  into  his 
shoulder-belt,  and  went  out,  calling  to  us. 

"  Good-by  to  you  all,  good-by!  We  will  talk 
about  this  another  time." 

A  few  minutes  afterward,  I  paid  for  my  cup  of 
coffee,  and  followed  his  example. 

I  had  the  same  thoughts  as  Brestel  and  Bernard; 
I  saw  that  my  trade  in  iron  and  old  clothes  was  at  an 
end ;  and  as  I  went  up  the  Barracks'  hill  I  thought, 
"  Try  to  find  something  else,  Moses.  Everything  is 
at  a  stand-still.  But  one  cannot  use  up  his  money 
to  the  last  farthing.  I  must  turn  to  something  else 
— I  must  find  an  article  which  is  always  salable. 
But  what  is  always  salable?  Every  trade  has  its 
day,  and  then  it  comes  to  an  end." 

While  thus  meditating,  I  passed  the  Barracks  of 
the  Bois-de-Chenes.  I  was  on  the  plateau  from 
which  I  could  see  the  glacis,  the  line  of  ramparts, 
and  the  bastions,  when  the  firing  of  a  cannon  gave 
notice  that  the  marshal  was  leaving  the  place.  At 
the  same  time  I  saw  at  the  left,  in  the  direction  of 
Mittelbronn,  the  line  of  sabres  flashing  like  light- 
ning in  the  distance  among  the  poplars  of  the  high- 
way. The  trees  were  leafless,  and  I  could  see,  too, 


22  THE   BLOCKADE 

the  carriage  and  postilions  passing  like  the  wind 
through  the  plumes  and  caps. 

The  cannon  pealed,  second  after  second;  the 
mountains  gave  back  peal  after  peal,  from  the  very 
depths  of  their  valleys;  and  as  for  myself,  I  was 
quite  carried  away  by  the  thought  of  having  seen 
this  man  the  day  before ;  it  seemed  like  a  dream. 

Then,  about  ten  o'clock,  I  passed  the  bridge  of  the 
French  gate.  The  lasi  cannon  sounded  upon  the 
bastion  of  the  powder-house;  the  crowd  of  men, 
women  and  children  descended  the  ramparts,  as  if 
it  were  a  festival;  they  knew  nothing,  thought  of 
nothing,  while  cries  of  "  Vive  1'Empereur!  "  rose  in 
every  street. 

I  passed  through  the  crowd,  well  pleased  at  bring- 
ing good  news  to  my  wife ;  and  I  was  saying  to  my- 
self beforehand,  "  The  little  one  is  doing  well, 
Sorle !  "  when,  at  the  corner  of  the  market,  I  saw  her 
at  our  door.  I  raised  my  cane  at  once,  and  smiled, 
as  much  as  to  say  "  Baruch  is  safe — we  may  laugh !" 

She  understood  me,  and  went  in  at  once;  but  I 
overtook  her  on  the  stairs,  and  embraced  her, 
saying: 

"  It  is  a  good,  hearty  little  fellow — there !  Such 
a  baby — so  round  and  rosy!  And  Zeffen  is  doing 
well.  Baruch  wished  me  to  embrace  you  for  him. 
But  where  is  Safel? " 


THE   BLOCKADE  23 

tt  Under  the  market,  selling." 

"Ah,  good!" 

We  went  into  our  room.  I  sat  down  and  began 
to  praise  Zeffen's  baby.  Sorle  listened  with  de- 
light, looking  at  me  with  her  great  black  eyes,  and 
wiping  my  forehead,  for  I  had  walked  fast,  and 
could  hardly  breathe. 

And  then,  all  of  a  sudden,  our  Safel  came  in.  I 
had  not  time  to  turn  my  head  before  he  was  on  my 
knees,  with  his  hands  in  my  pockets.  The  child 
knew  that  his  sister  Zeffen  never  forgot  him;  and 
Sorle,  too,  liked  to  bite  an  apple. 

You  see,  Fritz,  when  I  think  of  these  things, 
everything  comes  back  to  me;  I  could  talk  to  you 
about  it  forever. 

It  was  Friday,  the  day  before  the  Sabbath;  the 
Schabbes-Go'ie  *  was  to  come  in  the  afternoon. 
While  we  were  still  alone  at  dinner,  and  I  related 
for  the  fifth  and  sixth  time  how  Zimmer  had  recog- 
nized me,  how  he  had  taken  me  into  the  presence  of 
the  Duke  of  Bellune,  my  wife  told  me  that  the  mar- 
shal had  made  the  tour  of  our  ramparts  on  horse- 
back, with  his  staff-officers;  that  he  had  examined 
the  advanced  works,  the  bastions,  the  glacis,  and 
that  he  had  said,  as  he  went  down  the  college  street, 

*  Woman,  not  Israelite,  who  on  Saturday  performs  in  a  Jewish 
household  the  labors  forbidden  by  the  law  of  Moses. 


24  THE   BLOCKADE 

that  the  place  would  held  out  for  eighteen  days,  and 
that  it  must  be  fortified  immediately. 

I  remembered  at  once  that  he  had  asked  me  if  we 
wished  to  defend  ourselves,  and  I  exclaimed :  "  He 
is  sure  that  the  enemy  is  coming;  since  he  is  going  to 
put  cannon  upon  the  ramparts,  it  is  because  there 
will  be  need  of  them.  It  is  not  natural  to  make 
preparations  which  are  not  to  be  used.  And,  if  the 
allies  come,  the  gates  will  be  shut.  "What  will  be- 
come of  us  without  our  business  ?  The  country  peo- 
ple can  neither  go  in  nor  out,  and  what  will  become 
of  us?" 

Then  Sorle  showed  her  good  sense,  for  she  said: 

"  I  have  already  thought  about  this,  Moses;  it  is 
only  the  peasants  who  buy  iron,  old  shoes,  and  our 
other  things.  We  must  undertake  a  city  business 
for  all  classes — a  business  which  will  oblige  citizens, 
soldiers  and  workmen  to  buy  of  us.  That  is  what 
we  must  do." 

I  looked  at  her  in  surprise.  Safel,  with  his  elbow 
on  the  table,  was  also  listening. 

"  It  is  all  very  well,  Sorle,"  I  replied,  "  but  what 
business  is  there  which  will  oblige  citizens,  soldiers, 
everybody  to  buy  of  us — what  business  is  there?  " 

"  Listen,"  said  she;  "  if  the  gates  are  shut  and  the 
country  people  cannot  enter,  there  will  be  no  eggs, 
butter,  fish,  or  anything  in  the  market.  People 


THE   BLOCKADE  25 

will  have  to  live  on  salt  meats  and  dried  vegetables, 
flour,  and  all  kinds  of  preserved  articles.  Those 
who  have  bought  up  these  can  sell  them  at  their  own 
price;  they  will  grow  rich." 

As  I  listened  I  was  struck  with  astonishment. 

"Ah,  Sorle!  Sorle!  "  I  exclaimed,  "for  thirty 
years  you  have  been  my  comfort.  Yes,  you  have 
crowned  me  with  all  sorts  of  blessings,  and  I  have 
said  a  hundred  times,  '  A  good  wife  is  a  diamond  of 
pure  water,  and  without  flaw.  A  good  wife  is  a  rich 
treasure  for  her  husband.'  I  have  repeated  it  a 
hundred  times.  But  now  I  know  still  better  what 
you  are  worth,  and  esteem  you  still  more  highly." 

The  more  I  thought  of  it,  the  more  I  perceived 
the  wisdom  of  this  advice.  At  length  I  said: 

"  Sorle,  meat  and  flour,  and  everything  which  can 
be  kept,  are  already  in  the  storehouses,  and  the  sol- 
diers will  not  need  such  things  for  a  long  time,  be- 
cause their  officers  will  have  provided  them.  But 
what  will  be  wanted  is  brandy,  which  men  must 
have  to  massacre  and  exterminate  each  other  in  war, 
and  brandy  we  will  buy!  We  will  have  plenty  of 
it  in  our  cellar,  we  will  sell  it,  and  nobody  else  will 
have  it.  That  is  my  idea !  " 

"  It  is  a  good  idea,  Moses!  "  said  she;  "  your  rea- 
sons are  good;  I  approve  of  them." 

"  Then  I  will  write,"  said  I,  "  and  we  will  invest 


26  THE   BLOCKADE 

everything  in  spirits  of  wine.  We  will  add  water 
ourselves,  in  proportion  as  people  wish  to  pay  for  it. 
In  this  way  the  freight  will  be  less  than  if  it  were 
brandy,  for  we  shall  not  have  to  pay  for  the  trans- 
portation of  the  water,  which  we  have  here." 

"  That  is  well,  Moses,"  she  said. 

And  so  we  agreed. 

Then  I  said  to  Safel: 

"  You  must  not  speak  of  this  to  any  one." 

She  answered  for  him : 

"  There's  no  need  of  telling  him  that,  Moses. 
Safel  knows  very  well  that  this  is  between  our- 
selves, and  that  our  well-being  depends  upon  it." 

•  The  child  for  a  long  time  resented  my  words: 
"  You  must  not  speak  of  this  to  any  one."  He  was 
already  full  of  good  sense,  and  said  to  himself: 

"  So  my  father  thinks  I  am  an  idiot." 

This  thought  humiliated  him.  Some  years  after- 
ward he  told  me  of  it,  and  I  perceived  that  I  had 
been  wrong. 

Everybody  has  his  notions.  Children  should  not 
be  humiliated  in  theirs,  but  rather  upheld  by  their 
parents. 


m 

A  CIRCUMCISION  FEAST 

So  I  wrote  to  Pezenas.  This  is  a  southern  city, 
rich  in  wools,  wines,  and  brandies.  The  price  of 
brandies  at  Pezenas  controls  that  of  all  Europe.  A 
trading  man  ought  to  know  that,  and  I  knew  it,  be- 
cause I  had  always  liked  to  read  the  list  of  prices  in 
the  newspapers.  I  sent  to  M.  Quataya,  at  Pezenas, 
for  a  dozen  pipes  of  spirits  of  wine.  I  calculated 
that,  after  paying  the  freight,  a  pipe  would  cost  me 
a  thousand  francs,  delivered  in  my  cellar. 

As  I  had  sold  no  iron  for  a  year,  I  disposed  of  my 
merchandise  without  asking  anything  for  it;  the 
payment  of  the  twelve  thousand  francs  did  not 
trouble  me.  Only,  Fritz,  those  twelve  thousand 
francs  were  half  my  fortune,  and  you  may  suppose 
that  it  required  some  courage  to  risk  in  one  venture 
the  gains  of  fifteen  years. 

As  soon  as  my  letter  was  gone,  I  wished  I  could 
bring  it  back,  but  it  was  too  late.  I  kept  a  good  face 
before  my  wife,  and  said,  "  It  will  all  do  well !  We 
shall  gain  double,  triple,  etc." 

27 


28  THE   BLOCKADE 

She,  too,  kept  a  good  face,  but  we  both  had  mis- 
givings; and  during  the  six  weeks  necessary  for  the 
receipt  of  the  acknowledgment  and  acceptance  of 
my  order,  and  the  arrival  of  the  spirits  of  wine,  every 
night  I  lay  awake,  thinking,  "  Moses,  you  have  lost 
everything !  You  are  ruined  from  top  to  toe !  " 

The  cold  sweat  would  cover  my  body.  Still,  if 
any  one  had  come  to  me  and  said,  "  Be  easy,  Moses, 
I  will  relieve  you  of  this  business,"  I  should  have 
refused,  because  my  hope  of  gain  was  as  great  as  my 
fear  of  loss.  And  by  this  you  may  know  who  are 
the  true  merchants,  the  true  generals,  and  all  who 
accomplish  anything.  Others  are  but  machines  for 
selling  tobacco,  or  filling  glasses,  or  firing  guns. 

It  all  comes  to  the  same  thing.  One  man's  glory 
is  as  great  as  another's.  This  is  why,  when  we 
speak  of  Austerlitz,  Jena  or  Wagram,  it  is  not  a 
question  of  Jean  Claude  or  Jean  Nicholas,  but  of 
Napoleon  alone;  he  alone  risked  everything,  the 
others  risked  only  being  killed. 

I  do  not  say  this  to  compare  myself  with  Napo- 
leon, but  the  buying  of  these  twelve  pipes  of  spirits 
of  wine  was  my  battle  of  Austerlitz. 

And  when  I  think  that,  on  reaching  Paris,  Na- 
poleon had  demanded  four  hundred  and  forty  mill- 
ions of  money,  and  si®  hundred  thousand  men  !  and 
that  then  everybody,  understanding  that  we  were 


THE   BLOCKADE  29 

threatened  with  an  invasion,  undertook  to  sell  and  to 
make  money  at  any  cost,  while  I  bought,  unham- 
pered by  the  example  of  others — when  I  think  of 
this,  I  am  proud  of  it  still  and  congratulate 
myself. 

It  was  in  the  midst  of  these  disquietudes  that  the 
day  for  the  circumcision  of  little  Esdras  arrived. 
My  daughter  Zeffen  had  recovered,  and  Baruch  had 
written  to  us  not  to  trouble  ourselves,  for  they  woul$ 
come  to  Phalsburg. 

My  wife  then  hastened  to  prepare  the  meats  and 
cakes  for  the  festival:  the  bie-kougel,  the  haman, 
and  the  schlachmoness,  which  are  great  delicacies. 

On  my  part,  I  had  tested  my  best  wine  on  the  old 
Rabbi  Heymann,  and  I  had  invited  my  friends, 
Leiser  of  Mittelbronn  and  his  wife  Boune,  Senterle 
Hirsch,  and  Professor  Burguet.  Burguet  was  not  a 
Jew,  but  he  was  worthy  of  being  one  on  account  of 
his  genius  and  extraordinary  talents. 

When  a  speech  was  wanted  in  the  Emperor's 
progress,  Burguet  made  it ;  when  songs  were  needed 
for  a  national  festival,  Burguet  composed  them  be- 
tween two  sips  of  beer;  when  a  young  candidate  for 
law  or  medicine  was  perplexed  in  writing  his  thesis, 
he  went  to  Burguet,  who  wrote  it  for  him,  whether 
in  French  or  in  Latin;  when  fathers  and  mothers 
were  to  be  moved  to  tears  at  the  distribution  of 


jo  THE   BLOCKADE 

school  prizes,  Burguet  was  the  man  to  do  it;  he 
would  take  a  blank  sheet  of  paper,  and  read  them  a 
discourse  on  the  spot,  such  as  nobody  else  could 
have  written  in  ten  years;  when  a  petition  was  to  be 
made  to  the  Emperor  or  prefect,  Burguet  was  the 
first  man  thought  of;  and  when  Burguet  took  the 
trouble  to  defend  a  deserter  before  the  court-martial 
at  the  mayoralty,  the  deserter,  instead  of  being  shot 
on  the  bastion  of  the  barracks,  was  pardoned. 

After  all  this,  Burguet  would  return  and  take  his 
part  in  piquet  with  the  little  Jew,  Solomon,  at  which 
he  always  lost;  and  people  troubled  themselves  no 
more  about  him. 

I  have  often  thought  that  Burguet  must  have 
greatly  despised  those  to  whom  he  took  off  his  hat. 
Yes,  to  see  the  fellows  putting  on  important  airs  be- 
cause they  were  rural  guard  or  secretary  of  the  may- 
oralty, must  have  made  a  man  like  him  laugh  in  his 
sleeve.  But  he  never  told  me  so;  he  knew  the  ways 
of  the  world  too  well. 

He  was  an  old  constitutional  priest,  a  tall  man, 
with  a  noble  figure  and  very  fine  voice;  the  very 
tones  of  it  would  move  you  in  spite  of  yourself. 
Unfortunately,  he  did  not  take  care  of  his  own  in- 
terests ;  he  was  at  the  mercy  of  the  first  comer.  How 
many  times  I  have  said  to  him: 

"  Burguet,  in  heaven's  name,  don't  get  mixed  up 


THE   BLOCKADE  31 

with  thieves !  Burguet,  don't  let  yourself  be  robbed 
by  simpletons!  Trust  me  about  your  college  ex- 
penses. When  anybody  comes  to  impose  upon  you 
I  will  be  on  the  spot;  I  will  pay  the  bills  and  hand 
you  the  account." 

But  he  did  not  think  of  the  future,  and  lived  very 
carelessly. 

I  had  thus  invited  all  my  old  friends  for  the  morn- 
ing of  the  twenty-fourth  of  November,  and  they  all 
came  to  the  festival. 

The  father  and  mother,  with  the  little  infant,  and 
its  godfather  and  godmother,  came  early,  in  a  large 
carriage.  By  eleven  the  ceremony  had  taken  place 
in  our  synagogue,  and  we  all,  in  great  joy  and  satis- 
faction, for  the  child  had  not  uttered  a  cry,  returned 
together  to  my  house,  which  had  been  made  ready 
beforehand — the  large  table  on  the  first  floor,  the 
meats  in  their  pewter  dishes,  the  fruits  in  their  bas- 
kets— and  we  had  begun  in  great  glee  to  celebrate 
the  happy  day. 

The  old  Rabbi  Heymann,  Leiser,  and  Burguet 
sat  at  my  right,  my  little  Safel,  Hirsch,  and  Baruch 
at  my  left,  and  the  women  Sorle,  Zeffen,  Jetele,  and 
Boune,  facing  us  on  the  other  side,  according  to  the 
command  of  the  Lord,  that  men  and  women  should 
be  separate  at  festivities. 

Burguet,  with  his  white  cravat,  his  handsome 


32  THE   BLOCKADE 

maroon  coat  and  his  ruffled  shirt,  did  me  honor. 
He  made  a  speech,  raising  his  voice  and  making  fine 
gestures  like  a  great  orator — telling  of  the  ancient 
customs  of  our  nation,  of  our  religious  ceremonies, 
of  Paegach  (the  feast  of  Passover),  of  Rosch- 
haschannah  (the  New  Year),  of  Kippour  (the  day 
of  expiation),  like  a  true  led  (Jew),  thinking  our 
religion  very  beautiful  and  glorifying  the  genius  of 
Moses. 

He  knew  the  Lochcne  Ko'idecli  (Chaldaic)  as  well 
as  a  bal-kebole  (cabalistic  doctor). 

The  Saverne  people  turned  to  their  neighbors  and 
asked  in  a  whisper: 

"  Pray,  who  is  this  man  who  speaks  with  au- 
thority, and  says  such  fine  things?  Is  he  a  rabbi? 
Is  he  a  schamess  (Jewish  beadle)?  or  is  he  the 
parness  (civil  head)  of  your  community?  " 

And  when  they  learned  he  was  not  one  of  us,  they 
were  astonished.  The  old  Rabbi  Heymann  alone 
was  able  to  answer  him,  and  they  agreed  on  all 
points,  like  learned  men  talking  on  familiar  sub- 
jects and  conscious  of  their  own  learning. 

Behind  us,  on  its  grandmother's  bed,  inside  of  the 
curtains,  slept  our  little  Esdras,  with  his  sweet  face 
and  little  clinched  hands — slept  so  soundly,  that 
neither  our  shouts  of  laughter,  nor  the  talking,  nor 
the  sound  of  the  glasses  could  wake  him.  Some- 


THE   BLOCKADE 


33 


times  one,  sometimes  another,  went  to  look  at  him, 
and  everybody  said : 

"  What  a  beautiful  child  !  He  looks  like  his 
grandfather  Moses !  " 

That  pleased  me,  of  course ;  and  I  would  go  and 
look  at  him,  bending  over  him  for  a  long  while,  and 
finding  a  still  stronger  resemblance  to  my  father. 

At  three  o'clock,  the  meats  having  been  removed 
and  the  delicacies  spread  upon  the  table,  as  we  came 
to  the  dessert,  I  went  down  to  find  a  bottle  of  better 
wine,  an  old  bottle  of  Rousillon  which  I  dug  out 
from  under  the  others,  all  covered  with  dust  and 
cobwebs.  I  took  it  up  carefully  and  placed  it 
among  the  flowers  on  the  table,  saying: 

"  You  thought  the  other  wine  very  good;  what 
wiii  you  say  to  this?  " 

Then  Burguet  smiled,  for  old  wine  was  his  special 
delight;  he  stretched  up  his  hand  and  exclaimed: 

"  Oh !  noble  wine,  the  consoler,  the  restorer  and 
benefactor  of  poor  men  in  this  vale  of  misery !  Oh, 
venerable  bottle,  thou  bearest  all  the  signs  of  old 
nobility!  " 

He  said  this  with  his  mouth  full,  and  everybody 
laughed. 

I  asked  Sorle  to  bring  the  corkscrew. 

As  she  was  rising,  suddenly  trumpets  sounded 


34 


THE    BLOCKADE 


without,  and  we  all  listened  and  asked,  "  What  is 
that? " 

At  the  same  time  the  sound  of  many  horses'  steps 
came  up  the  street,  and  the  earth  and  the  houses 
trembled  under  an  enormous  weight. 

Everybody  sprang  up,  throwing  down  their  nap- 
kins and  rushing  to  the  windows. 

And  from  the  French  gate  to  the  little  square  we 
saw  trains  of  artillerymen  advancing,  with  their 
great  shakos  covered  with  oil-cloth,  and  their  saddles 
in  sheepskins  and  driving  caissons  full  of  round  shot, 
shells  and  intrenching  tools. 

Imagine,  Fritz,  my  thoughts  at  that  moment ! 

"  This  is  war,  my  friends ! "  said  Burguet. 
"  This  is  war !  It  is  coming  t  Our  turn  has  come, 
at  the  end  of  twenty  years!  " 

I  stood  leaning  down  with  my  hand  on  the  stone, 
and  thought: 

"  Now  the  enemy  cannot  delay  coming.  These 
are  sent  to  fortify  the  place.  And  what  if  the  al- 
lies surround  us  before  I  have  received  my  spirits 
of  wine?  What  if  the  Austrians  or  Russians  should 
stop  the  wagons  and  seize  them?  I  should  have  to 
pay  for  it  all  the  same,  and  I  should  not  have  a  far- 
thing left!" 

I  turned  pale  at  the  thought.     Sorle  looked  at 


THE   BLOCKADE  35 

me,  undoubtedly  having  the  same  fears,  but  she 
said  nothing. 

"We  stood  there  till  they  all  passed  by.  The 
street  was  full.  Some  old  soldiers,  Desmarets  the 
Egyptian,  Paradis  the  gunner,  Kolfo,  Faisard  the 
sapper,  of  the  Beresina,  as  he  was  called,  and  some 
others,  cried  "  Vive  1'Empereur!  " 

Children  ran  behind  the  wagons,  repeating  the 
cry,  "  Vive  1'Empereur!  "  But  the  greater  num- 
ber, with  closed  lips  and  serious  faces,  looked  on  in 
silence. 

When  the  last  carnage  had  turned  the  Fouquet 
corner,  all  the  crowd  returned  with  bowed  heads; 
and  we  in  the  room  looked  at  each  other,  with  no 
wish  to  continue  the  feast. 

"  You  are  not  well,  Moses,"  said  Burguet. 
"What  is  the  matter?" 

"  I  am  thinking  of  all  the  evils  which  are  coming 
to  the  city." 

"Bah!  don't  be  afraid,"  he  replied.  "  We  shall 
be  strongly  defended!  And  then,  God  help  us! 
what  can't  be  cured  must  be  endured!  Come! 
cheer  up;  this  old  wine  will  keep  up  our  spirits." 

We  resumed  our  places.  I  opened  the  bottle, 
and  it  was  as  Burguet  said.  The  old  Rousillon  did 
us  good,  and  we  began  to  laugh. 


36  THE   BLOCKADE 

Burguet  called  out: 

"  To  the  health  of  the  little  Esdras!  May  the 
Lord  cover  him  with  his  right  hand!  " 

And  the  glasses  clinked.  Some  one  exclaimed: 
"  May  he  long  rejoice  the  hearts  of  his  grandfather 
Moses  and  his  grandmother  Sorle!  To  their 
health!" 

We  ended  by  looking  at  everything  in  rose-color, 
and  glorifying  the  Emperor,  who  was  hastening  to 
defend  us,  and  was  soon  going  to  crush  all  the  beg- 
gars beyond  the  Rhine. 

But  it  is  equally  true  that,  when  we  separated 
about  five  o'clock,  everybody  had  become  serious, 
and  Burguet  himself,  when  he  shook  hands  with  me 
at  the  foot  of  the  stairs,  looked  anxious. 

"  "We  shall  have  to  send  home  our  pupils,"  said 
he,  "  and  we  must  sit  with  our  arms  folded." 

The  Saverne  people,  with  Zeffen,  Baruch,  and 
the  children,  got  into  their  carriage,  and  started  si- 
lently for  home. 


IV 

FATHER  MOSES  COMPELLED  TO  BEAR  ARMS 

AT.T.  this,  Fritz,  was  but  the  beginning  of 
troubles. 

You  should  have  seen  the  city  the  next  morning, 
at  about  eleven  o'clock,  when  the  engineering  offi- 
cers had  finished  inspecting  the  ramparts,  and  the 
tidings  suddenly  spread  that  there  were  needed 
seventy-two  platforms  inside  the  bastions,  three 
bomb-proof  block-houses,  for  thirty  men  each,  at  the 
right  and  left  of  the  German  gate,  ten  palankas  with 
battlements  forming  stronghold  intrenchments  for 
forty  men,  and  four  blindages  upon  the  great  square 
of  the  mayoralty  to  shelter  each  a  hundred  and  ten 
men ;  and  when  it  was  known  that  the  citizens  would 
be  obliged  to  work  at  all  these,  to  provide  themselves 
with  shovels,  pickaxes,  and  wheelbarrows,  and  the 
peasants  to  bring  trees  with  their  own  horses ! 

As  for  Sorle,  Safel,  and  myself,  we  did  not  even 
know  what  blindages  and  palankas  were;  we  asked 

37 


38  THE   BLOCKADE 

our  neighbor  Bailly,  an  old  armorer,  what  they  were 
for,  and  he  answered  with  a  smile : 

"  You  will  find  out,  neighbor,  when  you  hear 
the  balls  roar  and  the  shells  hiss.  It  would  take  too 
long  to  explain.  You  will  see,  by  and  by;  never 
too  late  to  learn." 

Imagine  how  the  people  looked!  I  remember 
that  everybody  ran  to  the  square,  where  our  mayor, 
Baron  Parmentier,  made  a  speech.  We  ran  there 
with  all  the  rest. 

Sorle  held  me  by  the  arm,  and  Safel  by  the 
skirt  of  my  coat. 

There,  in  front  of  the  mayoralty,  the  whole  city, 
men,  women,  and  children,  formed  in  a  semicircle, 
and  listened  in  the  deepest  silence,  now  and  then 
crying  all  together,  "  Yive  1'Empereur!  " 

Parmentier,  a  tall,  thin  man,  in  a  sky-blue  dress- 
coat,  a  white  cravat,  and  the  tri-colored  sash 
around  his  waist,  stood  on  the  top  of  the  steps  of 
the  guard-house,  with  the  members  of  the  munici- 
pal council  behind  him,  under  the  arch,  and  shouted 
out: 

"  Phalsburgians!  The  time  has  come  in  which 
to  show  your  devotion  to  the  Empire.  A  year  ago 
all  Europe  was  with  us,  now  all  Europe  is  against 
us.  We  should  have  everything  to  fear  without 
the  energy  and  power  of  the  people.  He  who  will 
not  do  his  duty  now  will  be  a  traitor  to  his  country! 


THE   BLOCKADE  39 

Inhabitants  of  Phalsburg,  show  what  you  are !  Re- 
member that  your  children  have  perished  through 
the  treachery  of  the  allies.  Avenge  them!  Let 
every  one  be  obedient  to  the  military  authority,  for 
the  sake  of  the  safety  of  France,"  etc. 

Only  to  hear  him  made  one's  flesh  creep,  and  I 
said  to  myself : 

"  Now  there  will  not  be  time  for  the  spirits  of 
wine  to  get  here — that  is  plain!  The  allies  are  on 
their  way !  " 

Elias  the  butcher,  and  Kalmes  Levy  the  ribbon- 
merchant,  were  standing  near  us.  Instead  of  cry- 
ing "  Vive  1'Empereur!  "  with  the  rest,  they  said 
to  each  other: 

"  Good!  we  are  not  barons,  you  and  I!  Barons, 
counts,  and  dukes  have  but  to  defend  themselves. 
Are  we  to  think  only  of  their  interests?  " 

But  all  the  old  soldiers,  and  especially  those  of 
the  Republic,  old  Goulden,  the  clockmaker,  Des- 
marels,  the  Egyptian — creatures  with  not  a  hair 
left  on  their  heads,  nor  as  much  as  four  teeth  to  hold 
their  pipes — these  creatures  fell  in  with  the  mayor, 
and  cried  out : 

"Vive  la  France!  We  must  defend  ourselves 
to  the  death!" 

I  saw  several  looking  askance  at  Kalmes  Levy, 
and  I  whispered  to  him: 


40  THE   BLOCKADE 

"Keep  still,  Kalmes!  For  heaven's  sake,  keep 
still!  They  will  tear  you  in  pieces!  " 

It  was  true.  The  old  men  gave  him  ter- 
rible looks;  they  grew  pale,  and  their  cheeks 
shook. 

Then  Kalmes  stopped  talking,  and  even  left  the 
crowd  to  return  home.  But  Elias  stayed  till  the 
end  of  the  speech,  and,  as  the  whole  mass  of  people 
were  going  down  the  main  street,  shouting  "  Vive 
1'Empereur!  "  he  could  not  help  saying  to  the  old 
clockmaker : 

"What!  you,  Mr.  Goulden,  a  reasonable  man, 
who  have  never  wanted  anything  of  the  Emperor, 
you  are  now  going  to  take  his  part,  and  cry  out 
that  we  must  defend  ourselves  till  death!  Is  it  our 
business  to  be  soldiers?  Have  not  we  furnished 
enough  soldiers  to  the  Empire  these  last  ten  years?. 
Have  not  enough  men  been  killed?  Must  we  give, 
besides,  our  own  blood  to  support  barons,  counts, 
and  dukes?  " 

But  old  Goulden  did  not  let  him  finish,  and 
replied,  as  if  indignant :  "  Listen,  Elias !  try  to 
keep  still !  The  thing  now  to  be  done  is  not  to  know 
what  is  right  or  wrong — it  is  to  save  France.  I 
warn  you,  that  if  you  try  to  discourage  others,  it 
will  be  bad  for  you.  Believe  me — go !  " 

Already  a  number  of  superannuated  soldiers  were 


THE    BLOCKADE  41 

gathered  round  us,  and  Elias  had  only  time  to  re- 
treat by  the  opposite  lane. 

From  this  time  public  notices,  requisitions,  forced 
labors,  domiciliary  visits  for  tools  and  wheelbar- 
rows, came  one  after  another,  incessantly.  A  man 
was  nothing  in  his  own  house;  the  officers  of  the 
place  assumed  authority  over  everything:  only  to 
be  sure,  they  gave  receipts. 

All  the  tools  from  my  storehouse  of  iron  were 
in  use  on  the  ramparts.  Fortunately  I  had  sold  a 
good  many  beforehand,  for  these  tickets  in  place 
of  my  wares  would  have  ruined  me. 

From  time  to  time  the  mayor  made  a  speech, 
and  the  governor,  a  fat  man,  covered  with  pimples, 
expressed  his  satisfaction  to  the  citizens;  that  made 
up  for  their  money ! 

When  my  time  came  to  take  the  pickaxe  and 
draw  the  wheelbarrow,  I  arranged  with  Carabin,  the 
wood-sawyer,  to  take  my  place  for  thirty  sous.  Ah, 
what  misery!  Such  a  time  will  never  come  again. 

"While  the  governor  commanded  us  within  the 
city,  the  soldiers  were  always  outside  to  superintend 
the  peasants.  The  road  to  Lutzelburg  was  but  one 
line  of  carts,  laden  with  old  oaks  for  building  block- 
houses. These  are  large  sentry-boxes,  or  turrets, 
built  up  of  solid  trunks  of  trees,  laid  crosswise  one 
upon  another,  and  then  covered  with  earth.  These 


42  THE   BLOCKADE 

are  more  solid  than  an  arch.  Shells  and  bombs 
might  rain  upon  them  without  disturbing  anything 
within,  as  I  found  afterward. 

These  trees  were  also  used  to  make  lines  of 
enormous  palisades,  pointed  and  pierced  with  holes 
for  firing;  these  are  what  they  call  palankas. 

I  seem  still  to  hear  the  shouts  of  the  peasants, 
the  neighing  of  the  horses,  the  strokes  of  the  whips, 
and  all  the  other  noises,  which  never  stopped,  day 
or  night. 

My  only  consolation  was  in  thinking,  "  If  the 
spirits  of  wine  comes  now,  it  will  be  well  defended; 
the  Austrians,  Prussians,  and  Russians  will  not 
drink  it  here !  " 

Every  morning  Sorle  expected  to  receive  the  in- 
voice. 

One  Sabbath  day  we  had  the  curiosity  to  go  and 
see  the  works  of  the  bastions.  Everybody  was  talk- 
ing about  it,  and  Safel  kept  coming  to  me,  saying: 
"  The  work  is  going  on ;  they  are  filling  the  shells 
in  front  of  the  arsenal;  they  are  taking  out  the 
cannon;  they  are  mounting  them  on  the  ram- 
parts! " 

We  could  not  keep  the  child  away.  He  had 
nothing  to  sell  now  under  the  market,  and  it  would 
be  too  tedious  for  him  to  stay  at  home.  He  scoured 
the  city,  and  brought  us  back  the  news. 


THE   BLOCKADE  43 

On  this  day,  then,  having  heard  that  forty-two 
pieces  were  ranged  in  battery,  and  that  they  were 
continuing  the  work  upon  the  bastion  of  the  in- 
fantry-barracks, I  told  Sorle  to  bring  her  shawl, 
and  we  would  go  and  see. 

We  first  went  down  to  the  French  gate.  Hun- 
dreds of  wheelbarrows  were  going  up  the  ramparts 
of  the  bastion,  from  which  could  be  seen  the  road 
to  Metz  on  the  right  and  the  road  to  Paris  on  the 
left. 

There,  above,  crowds  of  laborers,  soldiers  and 
citizens,  were  heaping  up  a  mass  of  earth  in  the 
form  of  a  triangle,  at  least  twenty-five  feet  in  height, 
and  two  hundred  in  length  and  breadth. 

An  engineering  officer  had  discovered  with  his 
spy-glass  that  this  bastion  was  commanded  by  the 
hill  opposite,  and  so  everybody  was  set  to  work  to 
place  two  pieces  on  a  level  with  the  hill. 

It  was  the  same  everywhere  else.  The  interiors 
of  these  bastions,  with  their  platforms,  were  shut 
in  all  around,  for  seven  feet  from  the  ground,  like 
rooms.  Nothing  could  fall  into  them  except  from 
the  sky.  In  the  turf,  however,  were  dug  narrow 
openings,  larger  without,  like  funnels ;  the  mouths 
of  the  cannon,  which  were  raised  upon  immense 
carriages,  were  drawn  out  through  these  apertures; 
they  could  be  pushed  forward  and  backward,  and 


44  THE   BLOCKADE 

turned  in  all  directions,  by  means  of  great  levers 
passed  in  rings  over  the  hind  wheels  of  the  car- 
riages. 

I  had  not  yet  heard  the  sound  of  these  forty- 
eight  pounders.  But  the  mere  sight  of  them  on 
their  platforms  gave  me  a  terrible  idea  of  their 
power.  Even  Sorle  said:  "  It  is  fine,  Moses;  it  is 
well  done !  " 

She  was  right,  for  within  the  bastions  all  was  in 
complete  order;  not  a  weed  remained,  and  upon 
the  sides  were  piled  great  bags  filled  with  earth  to 
protect  the  artillerymen. 

But  what  lost  labor!  and  to  think  that  every 
firing  of  these  large  guns  costs  at  least  a  louis — 
money  spent  to  kill  our  fellow-men ! 

In  fine  the  people  worked  at  these  things  with 
more  enthusiasm  than  if  they  were  gathering  in 
their  own  harvests.  I  have  often  thought  that  if 
the  French  bestowed  as  much  pains,  good  sense, 
and  courage  upon  matters  of  peace,  they  would  be 
the  richest  and  happiest  people  in  the  world.  Yes, 
they  would  long  ago  have  surpassed  the  English 
and  Americans.  But  when  they  have  toiled  and 
economized,  when  they  have  opened  roads  every- 
where, built  magnificent  bridges,  dug  out  harbors 
and  canals,  and  riches  come  to  them  from  all  quar- 
ters, suddenly  the  fury  of  war  possesses  them,  and 


THE   BLOCKADE  45 

in  three  or  four  years  they  ruin  themselves  with 
grand  armies,  with  cannon,  with  powder,  with  bul- 
lets, with  men,  and  become  poorer  than  before.  A 
few  soldiers  are  their  masters,  and  look  down  upon 
them.  This  is  all  it  profits  them! 

In  the  midst  of  all  this,  news  from  Mayence, 
from  Strasburg,  from  Paris,  came  by  the  dozens; 
we  could  not  go  into  the  street  without  seeing  a 
courier  pass.  They  all  stopped  before  the  Bock- 
hold  house,  near  the  German  gate,  where  the  gov- 
ernor lived.  A  circle  formed  around  the  house, 
the  courier  mounted,  then  the  news  spread  through 
the  city  that  the  allies  were  concentrated  at  Frank- 
fort, that  our  troops  guarded  the  islands  of  the 
Rhine;  that  the  conscripts  from  1803  to  1814  were 
recalled;  that  those  of  1815  would  form  the  re- 
serve corps  at  Metz,  at  Bordeaux,  at  Turin;  that 
the  deputies  were  going  to  assemble ;  then,  that  the 
gates  had  been  shut  upon  them,  etc.,  etc. 

There  came  also  smugglers  of  all  sorts  from 
Graufthal,  Pirmasens,  and  Kaiserslautern,  -with 
Franz  Sepel,  the  one-armed  man,  at  their  head,  and 
others  from  the  villages  around,  who  secretly  scat- 
tered the  proclamations  of  Alexander,  Francis  Jo- 
seph and  Frederic  William,  saying  "  that  they  did 
not  make  war  upon  France,  but  upon  the  Emperor 
alone  to  prevent  his  further  desolation  of  Europe." 


46  THE   BLOCKADE 

They  spoke  of  the  abolition  of  duties,  and  of  taxes 
of  all  sorts.  The  people  at  night  did  not  know 
what  to  think. 

But  one  fine  morning  it  was  all  explained.  It 
was  the  eighth  or  ninth  of  December.  I  had  just 
risen,  and  was  putting  on  my  clothes,  when  I  heard 
the  rolling  of  a  drum  at  the  corner  of  the  main 
street. 

It  was  cold,  but  nevertheless  I  opened  the  win- 
dow and  leaned  out  to  hear  the  announcements. 
Parmentier  opened  his  paper,  young  Engelheider 
kept  up  his  drum-beating,  and  the  people  as- 
sembled. 

Then  Parmentier  read  that  the  governor  of  the 
place  ordered  all  citizens  to  present  themselves  at 
the  mayoralty  between  eight  in  the  morning  and 
six  in  the  evening,  without  fail,  to  receive  their 
muskets  and  cartridge-boxes,  and  that  those  who 
did  not  come,  would  be  court-martialed. 

There  was  the  end  at  last!  Every  one  who  was 
able  to  march  was  on  his  way,  and  the  old  men 
were  to  defend  the  fortifications;  sober-minded 
men — citizens — men  accustomed  to  living  quietly 
at  home,  and  attending  to  their  own  affairs!  now 
they  must  mount  the  ramparts  and  every  day  run 
the  risk  of  losing  their  lives! 

Sorle  looked  at  me  without  a  word,  and  indigna- 


THE   BLOCKADE  47 

tion  made  me  also  speechless.  Not  till  after  a  quar- 
ter of  an  hour,  when  I  was  dressed,  did  I  say: 

"  Make  the  soup  ready.  I  am  going  to  the  may- 
oralty to  get  my  musket  and  cartridge-box." 

Then  she  exclaimed :  "  Moses,  who  would  have 
believed  that  you  would  have  to  go  and  fight  at 
your  age?  Oh!  what  misery!  " 

And  I  answered :  "  It  is  the  Lord's  will." 

Then  I  started  with  a  sad  heart.  Little  Safel 
followed  me. 

As  I  arrived  at  the  corner  of  the  market,  Bur- 
guet  was  coming  down  the  mayoralty  steps,  which 
swarmed  with  men;  he  had  his  musket  on  his 
shoulder,  and  said  with  a  smile : 

"  Ah,  well,  Moses!  "We  are  going  to  turn  Mac- 
cabees in  our  old  age  ?  " 

His  cheerfulness  encouraged  me,  and  I  replied: 

"  Burguet,  how  is  it  they  can  take  rational  men, 
heads  of  families,  and  make  them  destroy  them- 
selves? I  cannot  comprehend  it;  no,  there  is  no 
sense  in  it!  " 

"  Ah,"  said  he,  "  what  would  you  have?  If  they 
can't  get  thrushes,  they  must  take  blackbirds." 

I  could  not  smile  at  his  pleasantries,  and  he  said : 

"  Come,  Moses,  don't  be  so  disconsolate;  this  is 
only  a  formality.  We  have  troops  enough  for  ac- 
tive service;  we  shall  have  only  to  mount  guard. 


48  THE   BLOCKADE 

If  sorties  are  to  be  made,  or  attacks  repulsed,  they 
will  not  take  you;  you  are  not  of  an  age  to  run,  or 
to  give  a  bayonet  stroke!  You  are  gray  and  bald. 
Don't  be  troubled!" 

"  Yes,"  I  said,  "  that  is  very  true,  Burguet, 
I  am  bibken  down — more  so,  perhaps,  than  you 
think," 

"  That  is  well,"  said  he,  "  but  go  and  take  your 
musket  and  cartridge-box." 

"  And  are  we  not  going  to  stay  in  the  barracks?  " 

"  No,  no !  "  he  cried,  laughing  aloud,  "  we  are 
going  to  live  quietly  at  home." 

He  shook  hands  with  me,  and  I  went  under  the 
arch  of  the  mayoralty.  The  stairway  was  crowded 
with  people,  and  we  heard  names  called  out. 

And  there,  Fritz,  you  should  have  seen  the  looks 
of  the  Robinots,  the  Gourdiers,  the  Mariners,  that 
mass  of  tilers,  knife-grinders,  house-painters,  peo- 
ple who,  every  day,  in  ordinary  times,  would  take 
off  their  caps  to  you  to  get  a  little  work — you 
should  have  seen  them  straighten  themselves  up, 
look  at  you  pityingly  over  the  shoulder,  blow  in 
their  cheeks,  and  call  out : 

"  Ah,  Moses,  is  it  thou  ?  Thou  wilt  make  a 
comical  soldier.  He!  he!  he!  They  will  cut  thy 
mustaches  according  to  regulation!  " 

And  such-like  nonsense. 


THE    BLOCKADE  49 

Yes,  everything  was  changed;  these  former  bul- 
lies had  been  named  in  advance  sergeants,  sergeant- 
majors,  corporals,  and  the  rest  of  us  were  nothing 
at  all.  War  upsets  everything;  the  first  become 
last,  and  the  last  first.  It  is  not  good  sense  but 
discipline  which  carries  the  day.  The  man  who 
scrubbed  your  floor  yesterday,  because  he  was  too 
stupid  to  gain  a  living  any  other  way,  becomes 
your  sergeant,  and  if  he  tells  you  that  white  is 
black,  you  must  let  it  be  so. 

At  last,  after  waiting  an  hour,  some  one  called 
out,  "  Moses !  "  and  I  went  up. 

The  great  hall  above  was  full  of  people.  They 
all  exclaimed : 

"Moses!  Wilt  thou  come,  Moses?  Ah,  see 
him!  He  is  the  old  guard!  Look  now,  how  he 
is  built !  Thou  shalt  be  ensign,  Moses !  Thou  shalt 
lead  us  on  to  victory !  " 

And  the  fools  laughed,  nudging  each  others'  el- 
bows. I  passed  on,  without  answering  or  even  look- 
ing1 at  them. 

In  the  room  at  the  farther  end,  where  the  names 
were  drawn  at  conscriptions,  Governor  Moulin, 
Commandant  Petitgenet,  the  mayor,  Frichard,  sec- 
retary of  the  mayoralty,  Rollin,  captain  of  apparel, 
and  six  or  seven  other  superannuated  men,  crip- 
pled with  rheumatism,  brought  from  all  parts  of 

4 


50  THE   BLOCKADE 

the  world,  were  met  in  council,  some  sitting,  the 
rest  standing. 

These  old  ones  began  to  laugh  as  they  saw  me 
come  in.  I  heard  them  say  to  one  another:  "  He 
is  strong  yet!  Yes,  he  is  all  right." 

So  they  talked,  one  after  another.  I  thought  to 
myself:  "  Say  what  you  like,  you  will  not  make 
me  think  that  you  are  twenty  years  old,  or  that 
you  are  handsome." 

But  I  kept  silence. 

Suddenly  the  governor,  who  was  talking  with  the 
mayor  in  a  corner,  turned  around,  with  his  great 
chapeau  awry,  and  looking  at  me,  said: 

"  What  do  you  intend  to  do  with  such  a  patri- 
arch? You  see  very  well  that  he  can  hardly  stand." 

I  was  pleased,  in  spite  of  it  all,  and  began  to 
cough. 

"  Good,  good!  "  said  he,  "you  may  go  home; 
take  care  of  your  cold !  " 

I  had  taken  four  steps  toward  the  door,  when 
Frichard,  the  secretary  of  the  mayoralty,  called 
out: 

"  It  is  Moses!  The  Jew  Moses,  colonel,  who 
has  sent  his  two  boys  off  to  America!  The  oldest 
should  be  in  the  service." 

This  wretch  of  a  Frichard  had  a  grudge  against 
me,  because  we  had  the  same  business  of  selling  old 


THE   BLOCKADE  5! 

clothes  under  the  market,  and  the  country  people 
almost  always  preferred  buying  of  me;  he  had  a 
mortal  grudge  against  me,  and  that  is  why  he  began 
to  inform  against  me. 

The  governor  exclaimed  at  once :  "  Stop  a  min- 
ute! Ah  ha,  old  fox!  You  send  your  boys  to 
America  to  escape  conscription !  Very  well !  Give 
him  his  musket,  cartridge-box,  and  sabre." 

Indignation  against  Frichard  choked  me.  I 
would  have  spoken,  but  the  wretch  laughed  and 
kept  on  writing  at  the  desk;  so  I  followed  the  gen- 
darme Werner  to  a  side  room,  which  was  filled  with 
muskets,  sabres,  and  cartridge-boxes. 

Werner  himself  hung  a  cartridge-box  crosswise 
on  my  back,  and  gave  me  a  musket,  saying: 

"  Go,  Moses,  and  try  always  to  answer  to  the 
call." 

I  went  down  through  the  crowd  so  indignant 
that  I  heard  no  longer  the  shouts  of  laughter  from 
the  rabble. 

On  reaching  home  I  told  Sorle  what  had  hap- 
pened. She  was  very  pale  as  she  listened.  After 
a  moment,  she  said :  "  This  Frichard  is  the  enemy 
of  our  race;  he  is  an  enemy  of  Israel.  I  know  it; 
he  detests  us!  But  just  now,  Moses,  do  not  say  a 
word ;  do  not  let  him'  see  that  you  are  angry ;  it 
would  please  him  too  much.  By  and  by  you  can 


52  THE   BLOCKADE 

have  your  revenge !  You  will  have  a  chance.  And 
if  not  yourself,  your  children,  your  grandchildren ; 
they  shall  all  know  what  this  wretch  has  done  to 
their  grandfather — they  shall  know  it !  " 

She  clinched  her  hand,  and  little  Safel  listened. 

This  was  all  the  comfort  she  could  give  me.  I 
thought  as  she  did,  but  I  was  so  angry  that  I  would 
have  given  half  my  fortune  to  ruin  the  wretch.  All 
that  day,  and  in  the  night,  too,  I  exclaimed  more 
than  twenty  times : 

"Ah,  the  scoundrel! — I  was  going — they  had 
said  to  me,  '  You  may  go ! ' — He  is  the  cause  of  all 
my  misery!  " 

You  cannot  imagine,  Fritz,  how  I  have  always 
hated  that  man.  Never  have  my  wife  and  I  forgot- 
ten the  harm  he  did  us — never  shall  my  children 
forget  it. 


FATHEE    MOSES    EECEIVES    WELCOME    NEWS 

THE  next  day  we  must  answer  to  the  call  before 
the  mayoralty.  All  the  children  in  town  surround- 
ed us  and  whistled.  Fortunately,  the  blindages  of 
the  Place  d'Armes  were  not  finished,  so  that  we 
went  to  learn  our  exercises  in  the  large  court  of  the 
college,  near  the  chemin  de  ronde  at  the  corner  of 
the  powder-house.  As  the  pupils  had  been  dis- 
missed for  some  time,  the  place  was  at  liberty. 

Imagine  to  yourself  this  large  court  filled  with 
citizens  in  bonnets,  coats,  cloaks,  vests,  and  breeches, 
obliged  to  obey  the  orders  of  their  former  tinkers, 
chimney-sweeps,  stable-boys,  now  turned  into  cor- 
porals, sergeants,  and  sergeant-majors.  Imagine 
these  peaceable  men,  in  fours,  in  sixes,  in  tens, 
stretching  out  their  legs  in  concert,  and  marching 
to  the  step,  "One — two!  One — two!  Halt! 
Steady !  "  while  others,  marching  backward,  frown- 
ing, called  out  insolently:  "  Moses,  dress  thy  shoul- 
ders!" "  Moses,  bring  thy  nose  into  line !"  "  At- 

53 


54  THE   BLOCKADE 

tention,  Moses !  Carry  arms !  Ah,  old  shoe,  thou;lt 
never  be  good  for  anything!  Can  any  one  be  so 
stupid  at  his  age?  Look — just  look!  Thunder! 
Canst  thou  not  do  that  ?  One— two  !  What  an  old 
blockhead!  Come,  begin  again!  Carry  arms!  " 

This  is  the  way  my  own  cobbler,  Monborne,  or- 
dered me  about.  I  believe  he  would  have  beaten 
me  if  it  had  not  been  for  Captain  Yigneron. 

All  the  rest  treated  their  old  patrons  in  the  same 
way.  You  would  have  said  that  it  had  always  been 
so — that  they  had  always  been  sergeants  and  we 
had  always  been  soldiers.  I  heaped  up  gall  enough 
against  this  rabble  to  last  fifty  years. 

They  in  fine  were  the  masters!  And  the  only 
time  that  I  remember  ever  to  have  struck  my  own 
son,  Safel,  this  Monborne  was  the  cause  of  it.  All 
the  children  climbed  upon  the  wall  of  the  chemin 
de  ronde  to  look  at  us  and  laugh  at  us.  On  look- 
ing up,  I  saw  Safel  among  them,  and  made  a  sign 
of  displeasure  with  my  finger.  He  went  down  at 
once;  but  at  the  close  of  the  exercise,  when  we 
were  ordered  to  break  ranks  before  the  town-house, 
I  was  seized  with  anger  as  I  saw  him  coming  to- 
ward me,  and  I  gave  him  two  good  boxes  on  the 
ear,  and  said :  "  Go — hiss  and  mock  at  your  father, 
like  Shem,  instead  of  bringing  a  garment  to  cover 
his  nakedness — go!  " 


THE   BLOCKADE  55 

He  wept  bitterly,  and  in  this  state  I  went  home. 
Sorle  seeing  me  come  in  looking  very  pale,  and  the 
little  one  following  me  at  a  distance,  sobbing,  came 
down  at  once  to  the  door,  and  asked  what  was  the 
matter.  I  told  her  how  angry  I  was,  and  went  up- 
stairs. 

Sorle  reproved  Safel  still  more  severely,  and  he 
came  and  begged  my  pardon.  I  granted  it  with 
all  my  heart,  as  you  may  suppose.  But  when  I 
thought  that  the  exercises  were  to  be  repeated 
every  day,  I  would  gladly  have  abandoned  every- 
thing if  I  could  possibly  have  taken  with  me  my 
house  and  wares. 

Yes,  the  worst  thing  I  know  of  is  to  be  ordered 
about  by  bullies  who  cannot  restrain  themselves 
when  chance  sets  them  up  for  a  moment,  and  who 
are  not  capable  of  receiving  the  idea  that  in  this 
life  everybody  has  his  turn. 

I  should  say  too  much  if  I  continued  on  this 
head.  I  would  rather  go  on. 

The  Lord  granted  me  a  great  consolation.  I 
had  scarcely  laid  aside  my  cartridge-box  and  mus- 
ket, so  as  to  sit  at  the  table,  when  Sorle  smilingly 
handed  me  a  letter. 

"  Read  that,  Moses,"  said  she,  "  and  you  will 
feel  better." 

I  opened  and  read  it.     It  was  the  notice  from 


56  THE   BLOCKADE 

Pezenas  that  my  dozen  pipes  of  spirits  were  on  their 
way.  I  drew  a  long  breath. 

"Ah!  that  is  good,  now!"  I  exclaimed;  "the 
spirits  are  coming  by  the  ordinary  conveyance; 
they  will  be  here  in  three  weeks.  We  hear  noth- 
ing from  the  direction  of  Strasburg  and  Sarre- 
bruck;  the  allies  are  collecting  still,  but  they  do 
not  move;  my  spirits  of  wine  are  safe!  They  will 
sell  well!  It  is  a  grand  thing!  " 

I  smiled,  and  was  quite  myself  again,  when  Sorle 
pushed  the  arm-chair  toward  me,  saying:  "  And 
what  do  you  think  of  that,  Moses?  " 

She  gave  me,  as  she  spoke,  a  second  letter,  cov- 
ered with  large  stamps,  and  at  the  first  glance  I 
recognized  the  handwriting  of  my  two  sons,  Fro- 
mel  and  Itzig. 

It  was  a  letter  from  America !  My  heart  swelled 
with  joy,  and  I  silently  thanked  the  Lord,  deeply 
moved  by  this  great  blessing.  I  said :  "  The  Lord 
is  good.  His  understanding  is  infinite.  He  de- 
lighteth  not  in  the  strength  of  a  horse;  he  taketh 
not  pleasure  in  the  legs  of  a  man.  He  taketh  pleas- 
ure in  those  that  hope  in  his  mercy." 

Thus  I  spoke  to  myself  while  I  read  the  letter, 
in  which  my  sons  praised  America,  the  true  land 
of  commerce,  the  land  of  enterprising  men,  where 
everything  is  free,  where  there  are  no  taxes  or  im- 


THE   BLOCKADE  57 

positions,  because  people  are  not  brought  up  for  war, 
but  for  peace;  the  land,  Fritz,  where  every  man 
becomes,  through  his  own  labor,  his  intelligence, 
his  economy,  and  his  good  intentions,  what  he  de- 
serves to  be,  and  every  one  takes  his  proper  place, 
because  no  important  matter  is  decided  without  the 
consent  of  all ; — a  just  and  sensible  thing,  for  where 
all  contribute,  all  should  give  their  opinions. 

This  was  one  of  their  first  letters.  Fromel  and 
Itzig  wrote  me  that  they  had  made  so  much  money 
in  a  year,  that  they  need  no  longer  carry  their  own 
packs,  but  had  three  fine  mules,  and  that  they  had 
just  opened  at  Catskill,  near  Albany,  in  the  State 
of  New  York,  an  establishment  for  the  exchange  of 
European  fabrics  with  cow-hides,  which  were  very 
abundant  in  that  region. 

Their  business  was  prospering,  and  they  were  re- 
spected in  the  town  and  its  vicinity.  "While  Fro- 
mel was  travelling  on  the  road  with  their  three 
mules,  Itzig  stayed  at  home,  and  when  Itzig  went 
in  his  turn  his  brother  had  charge  of  the  shop. 

They  already  knew  of  our  misfortunes,  and 
thanked  the  Lord  for  having  given  them  such  par- 
ents, to  save  them  from  destruction.  They  would 
have  liked  to  have  us  with  them,  and  after  what 
had  just  happened,  in  being  maltreated  by  a  Mon- 
borne,  you  can  believe  that  I  should  have  been 


58  THE   BLOCKADE 

very  glad  to  be  there.  But  it  was  enough  to  re- 
ceive such  good  news,  and  in  spite  of  all  our  mis- 
fortunes, I  said  to  myself,  as  I  thought  of  Frichard : 
"  But  it  is  only  to  me  that  you  can  be  an  ass!  You 
may  harm  me  here,  but  you  can't  hurt  my  boys. 
You  are  nothing  but  a  miserable  secretary  of  mayor- 
alty, while  I  am  going  to  sell  my  spirits  of  wine. 
I  shall  gain  double  and  treble.  I  will  put  my  little 
Safel  at  your  side,  under  the  market,  and  he  will 
beckon  to  everybody  that  is  going  into  your  shop; 
and  he  will  sell  to  them  at  cost  price  rather  than 
lose  their  custom,  and  he  will  make  you  die  of 
anger." 

The  tears  came  into  my  eyes  as  I  thought  of  it, 
and  I  ended  by  embracing  Sorle,  who  smiled,  full 
of  satisfaction. 

We  pardoned  Safel  over  again,  and  he  promised 
to  go  no  more  with  the  cursed  race.  Then,  after 
dinner,  I  went  down  to  my  cellar,  one  of  the  finest 
in  the  city,  twelve  feet  high  and  thirty-five  feet 
long,  all  built  of  hewn  stone,  under  the  main  street. 
It  was  as  dry  as  an  oven,  and  even  improved  wine 
in  the  long  run. 

As  my  spirits  of  wine  might  arrive  before  the 
end  of  the  month,  I  arranged  four  large  beams  to 
hold  the  pipes,  and  saw  that  the  well,  cut  in  the 
rock,  had  enough  water  for  mixing  it. 


THE   BLOCKADE  59 

On  going  up  about  four  o'clock,  I  perceived  the 
old  architect,  Kromer,  who  was  walking  across  the 
market,  his  measuring-stick  under  his  arm. 

"  Ah !  "  said  I,  "  come  down  a  minute  into  my 
cellar;  do  you  think  it  will  be  safe  against  the 
bombs? " 

We  went  down  together.  He  examined  it,  meas- 
ured the  stones  and  the  thickness  of  the  arch  with 
his  stick,  and  said :  "  You  have  six  feet  of  earth 
over  the  key-stone.  "When  the  bombs  enter  here, 
Moses,  it  will  be  all  over  with  all  of  us.  You  may 
sleep  with  both  ears  shut." 

We  took  a  good  drink  of  wine  from  the  spout, 
a"nd  went  up  in  good  spirits. 

Just  as  we  set  foot  on  the  pavement,  a  door  in 
the  main  street  opened  with  a  crash,  and  there  was 
a  sound  of  glass  broken.  Kromer  raised  his  nose, 
and  said:  "  Look  yonder,  Moses,  at  Camus's  steps! 
Something  is  going  on." 

We  stopped  and  saw  at  the  top  of  the  railed  stair- 
case a  sergeant  of  veterans,  in  a  gray  coat,  with 
his  musket  dangling,  dragging  Father  Camus  by 
the  collar.  The  poor  old  man  clung  to  the  door 
with  both  hands  to  keep  himself  from  falling;  he 
succeeded  at  last  in  getting  loose,  by  tearing  the 
collar  from  his  coat,  and  the  door  shut  with  a  noise 
like  thunder. 


(Jo  THE   BLOCKADE 

"  If  war  begins  now  between  citizens  and  sol- 
diers," said  Kromer,  "  the  Germans  and  Russians 
will  have  fine  sport." 

The  sergeant,  seeing  the  door  shut  and  bolted 
within,  tried  to  force  it  open  with  blows  from  the 
butt-end  of  his  musket,  which  caused  a  great  up- 
roar; the  neighbors  came  out,  and  the  dogs  barked. 
We  were  watching  it  all,  when  we  saw  Burguet 
come  along  the  passage  in  front,  and  begin  to  talk 
vehemently  with  the  sergeant.  At  first  the  man 
did  not  seem  to  hear  him,  but  after  a  moment  he 
raised  his  musket  to  his  shoulder  with  a  rough  move- 
ment, and  went  down  to  the  street,  with  his  shoul- 
ders up  and  his  face  dark  and  furious.  He  passed 
by  us  like  a  wild  boar.  He  was  a  veteran  with  three 
chevrons,  sunburnt,  with  a  gray  mustache,  large 
straight  wrinkles  the  whole  length  of  his  cheeks, 
and  a  square  chin.  He  muttered  as  he  passed  us, 
and  went  into  the  little  inn  of  the  Three  Pigeons. 

Burguet  followed  at  a  distance,  with  his  broad 
hat  down  to  his  eyebrows,  wrapped  in  his  beaver- 
cloth  great-coat,  his  head  thrown  back,  and  his 
hands  in  his  pockets.  He  smiled. 

"  Well,"  said  I,  "  what  has  been  going  on  at 
Camus's? " 

"  Oh!  "  said  he,  "  it  is  Sergeant  Trubert,  of  the 
fifth  company  of  veterans,  who  had  just  been  play- 


THE   BLOCKADE  6l 

ing  his  tricks.  The  old  fellow  wants  everything  to 
go  by  rule  and  measure.  In  the  last  fortnight  he 
has  had  five  different  lodgings,  and  cannot  get  along 
with  anybody.  Everybody  complains  of  him,  but 
he  always  makes  excuses  which  the  governor  and 
commandant  think  excellent." 

"  And  at  Camus's  house?  " 

"  Camus  has  not  too  much  room  for  his  own 
family.  He  wished  to  send  the  sergeant  to  the 
inn;  but  the  sergeant  had  already  chosen  Camus's 
bed  to  sleep  in,  had  spread  his  cloak  upon  it,  and 
said,  l  My  billet  is  for  this  place.  I  am  very  com- 
fortable here,  and  do  not  wish  to  change.'  Old 
Camus  was  vexed,  and  finally,  as  you  have  just 
seen,  the  sergeant  tried  to  pull  him  out,  and  beat 
him." 

Burguet  smiled,  but  Kromer  said:  "Yes,  all 
that  is  laughable.  And  yet  when  we  think  of  what 
such  people  must  have  done  on  the  other  side  of  the 
Rhine!" 

"  Ah !  "  exclaimed  Burguet,  "  it  was  not  very 
pleasant  for  the  Germans,  I  am  sure.  But  it  is 
time  to  go  and  read  the  newspaper.  God  grant 
that  the  time  for  paying  our  old  debts  may  not 
have  come!  Good-evening,  gentlemen." 

He  continued  his  walk  on  the  side  of  the  square. 
Kromer  went  toward  his  own  house,  while  I  shut 


62  THE   BLOCKADE 

the  two  doors  of  my  cellar;  after  which  I  went 
home. 

This  was  the  tenth  of  December.  It  was  al- 
ready very  cold.  Every  night,  after  five  or  six 
o'clock,  the  roofs  and  pavements  were  covered  with 
frost.  There  was  no  more  noise  without,  because 
people  kept  at  home,  around  their  stoves. 

I  found  Sorle  in  the  kitchen,  preparing  our  sup- 
per. The  red  flame  flickered  upon  the  hearth 
around  the  saucepan.  These  things  are  now  be- 
fore my  eyes,  Fritz — the  mother,  washing  the 
plates  at  the  stone  sink,  near  the  gray  window;  lit- 
tle Safel  blowing  in  his  big  iron  pipe,  his  cheeks 
round  as  an  apple,  his  long  curly  hair  all  disordered, 
and  myself  sitting  on  the  stool,  holding  a  coal  to 
light  my  pipe.  Yes,  it  all  seems  here  present! 

We  said  nothing.  We  were  happy  in  thinking 
of  the  spirits  of  wine  that  were  coming,  of  the  boys 
who  were  doing  so  well,  of  the  good  supper  that  was 
cooking.  And  who  would  ever  have  thought,  then, 
that  twenty-five  days  afterward  the  city  would  be 
surrounded  by  enemies,  and  shells  hissing  in  the 
air? 


VI 

A  DISAGREEABLE   GUEST 

"Now,  Fritz,  I  am  going  to  tell  you  something 
which  has  often  made  me  think  that  the  Lord  takes 
an  interest  in  our  affairs,  and  that  He  orders  every- 
thing for  the  best.  At  first  it  seems  dreadful,  and 
we  exclaim,  "  Lord  have  mercy  on  us !  "  and  after- 
ward we  are  surprised  to  find  that  it  has  all  been  for 
our  good. 

You  know  that  Frichard,  the  secretary  of  the 
mayoralty,  disliked  me.  He  was  a  little,  yellow, 
dried-up  old  man,  with  a  red  wig,  flat  ears,  and  hol- 
low cheeks.  This  rascal  was  bent  on  doing  me  an 
injury,  and  he  soon  found  an  opportunity. 

As  the  time  of  the  blockade  drew  nearer,  people 
were  more  and  more  anxious  to  sell,  and  the  day 
after  I  received  the  good  news  from  America — it 
was  Friday,  a  market-day — so  many  of  the  Alsatian 
and  Lorraine  people  came  with  their  great  dossers 
and  panniers  of  fruit,  eggs,  butter,  cheese,  poultry, 
etc.,  that  the  market-place  was  crowded  with  them. 


64  THE   BLOCKADE 

Everybody  wanted  money,  to  hide  it  in  his  cellar, 
or  under  a  tree  in  the  neighboring  wood.  You 
know  that  large  sums  were  lost  at  that  time;  treas- 
ures which  are  now  discovered  from  year  to  year,  at 
the  foot  of  oaks  and  beeches,  hidden  because  it  was 
feared  that  the  Germans  and  Russians  would  pillage 
and  destroy  everything,  as  we  had  done  to  them. 
The  men  died,  or  perhaps  could  not  find  the  place 
where  they  had  hidden  their  money,  and  so  it  re- 
mained buried  in  the  ground. 

This  day,  the  eleventh  of  December,  it  was  very 
cold;  the  frost  penetrated  to  the  very  marrow  of 
your  bones,  but  it  had  not  yet  begun  to  snow.  Very 
early  in  the  morning,  I  went  down,  shivering,  with 
my  woollen  waistcoat  buttoned  up  to  my  throat,  and 
my  seal-skin  cap  drawn  down  over  my  ears. 

Both  the  little  and  the  great  squares  were  already 
swarming  with  people,  shouting  and  disputing  about 
prices.  I  had  only  time  to  open  my  shop,  and  to 
hang  up  my  large  scales  in  the  arch,  before  a  crowd 
of  country  people  stood  about  the  door,  some  asking 
for  nails,  others  iron  for  forging;  and  some  bringing 
their  own  old  iron  with  the  hope  of  selling  it. 

They  knew  that  if  the  enemy  came  there  would 
be  no  way  of  entering  the  city,  and  that  was  what 
brought  the  crowd,  some  to  sell  and  others  to  buy. 

I  opened  shop  and  began  to  weigh.     "We  heard 


THE   BLOCKADE  65 

the  patrols  passing  without;  the  guard  was  every- 
where doubled,  the  drawbridges  in  good  condition, 
and  the  outside  barriers  fortified  anew.  We  were 
not  yet  declared  to  be  in  a  state  of  siege,  but  we  were 
like  the  bird  on  the  branch ;  the  last  news  from  May- 
ence,  Sarrebruck,  and  Strasburg  announced  the  ar- 
rival of  the  allies  on  the  other  bank  of  the  Rhine. 

As  for  me,  I  thought  of  nothing  but  my  spirits  of 
wine,  and  all  the  time  I  was  selling,  weighing,  and 
handling  money,  it  was  never  out  of  my  mind.  It 
had,  as  it  were,  taken  root  in  my  brain. 

This  had  lasted  about  an  hour,  when  suddenly 
Burguet  appeared  at  my  door,  under  the  little  arch, 
behind  the  crowd  of  country  people,  and  said  to 
me: 

"  Moses,  come  here  a  minute,  I  have  something  to 
say  to  you." 

I  went  out. 

"  Let  us  go  into  your  passage,"  said  he. 

I  was  much  surprised,  for  he  looked  very  grave. 
The  peasants  behind  called  out: 

"  We  have  no  time  to  lose.     Make  haste,  Moses !" 

But  I  paid  no  attention.  In  the  passage  Burguet 
said  to  me : 

"  I  have  just  come  from  the  mayoralty,  where 
they  are  busy  in  making  out  a  report  to  the  prefect 
in  regard  to  the  state  of  feeling  among  our  popula- 
* 


66  THE   BLOCKADE 

tion,  and  I  accidentally  heard  that  they  are  going  to 
send  Sergeant  Trubert  to  your  house." 

This  was  indeed  a  blow  for  me.     I  exclaimed : 

"  I  don't  want  him !  I  don't  want  him !  I  have 
lodged  six  men  in  the  last  fortnight,  and  it  isn't  my 
turn." 

He  answered: 

"  Be  quiet,  and  don't  talk  so  loud.  You  will 
only  make  the  matter  worse." 

I  repeated: 

"  Never,  never  shall  this  sergeant  enter  my 
house !  It  is  abominable !  A  quiet  man  like  my- 
self, who  has  never  harmed  any  one,  and  who  asks 
nothing  but  peace !  " 

While  I  was  speaking,  Sorle,  on  her  way  to  mar- 
ket, with  her  basket  on  her  arm,  came  down,  and 
asked  what  was  the  matter. 

"  Listen,  Madame  Sorle,"  said  Burguet  to  her; 
"  be  more  reasonable  than  your  husband !  I  can 
understand  his  indignation,  and  yet  for  all  that, 
when  a  thing  is  inevitable  we  must  submit  to  it. 
Frichard  dislikes  you;  he  is  secretary  of  the  mayor- 
alty; he  distributes  the  billets  for  quartering  soldiers 
according  to  a  list.  Very  well;  he  sends  you  Ser- 
geant  Trubert,  a  violent,  bad  man,  I  allow,  but  he 
needs  lodging  as  well  as  the  others.  To  everything 
which  I  have  said  in  your  favor,  Frichard  has  always 


THE   BLOCKADE  67 

replied :  '  Moses  is  rich.  He  has  sent  away  his  boys 
to  escape  conscription.  He  ought  to  pay  for  them.' 
The  mayor,  the  governor,  everybody  thinks  he  is 
right.  So,  you  see,  I  tell  you  as  a  friend,  the  more 
resistance  you  make,  so  much  the  more  the  sergeant 
will  affront  you,  and  Frichard  laugh  at  you,  and 
there  will  be  no  help  for  it.  Be  reasonable !  " 

I  was  still  more  angry  on  finding  that  I  owed 
these  misfortunes  to  Frichard.  I  would  have  ex- 
claimed, but  my  wife  laid  her  hand  on  my  arm,  and 
said: 

"  Let  me  speak,  Moses.  Monsieur  Burguet  is 
right,  and  I  am  much  obliged  to  him  for  telling  us 
beforehand.  Frichard  has  a  spite  against  us.  Very 
well;  he  must  pay  for  it  all,  and  we  will  settle  with 
him  by  and  by.  Now,  when  is  the  sergeant  com- 
ing?" 

"  At  noon,"  replied  Burguet. 

"  Very  well,"  said  my  wife ;  "  he  has  a  right  to 
lodging,  fire,  and  candles.  We  can't  dispute  that; 
but  Frichard  shall  pay  for  it  all." 

She  was  pale,  and  I  listened,  for  I  saw  that  she 
was  right. 

"  Be  quiet,  Moses,"  she  said  to  me  afterward, 
"  and  don't  say  a  word ;  let  me  manage  it." 

ff  This  is  what  I  had  to  say  to  you,"  said  Burguet, 
"  it  is  an  abominable  trick  of  Frichard's.  I  will  see, 


68  THE   BLOCKADE 

by  and  by,  if  it  is  possible  to  rid  you  of  the  ser- 
geant. Now  I  must  go  back  to  my  post." 

Sorle  had  just  started  for  the  market.  Burguet 
pressed  my  hand,  and  as  the  peasants  grew  more  im- 
patient in  their  cries,  I  had  to  go  back  to  my  scales. 

I  was  full  of  rage.  I  sold  that  day  more  than 
two  hundred  francs'  worth  of  iron,  but  my  indigna- 
tion against  Frichard,  and  my  fear  of  the  sergeant, 
took  away  all  pleasure  in  anything.  I  might  have 
sold  ten  times  more  without  feeling  any  better. 

"  Ah!  the  rascal!  "  I  said  to  myself;  "  he  gives 
me  no  rest.  I  shall  have  no  peace  in  this  city." 

As  the  clock  struck  twelve  the  market  closed,  and 
people  went  away  by  the  French  gate.  I  shut  up 
my  shop  and  went  home,  thinking  to  myself: 

"  Now  I  shall  be  nothing  in  my  own  house ;  this 
Trubert  is  going  to  rule  everything.  He  will  look 
down  upon  us  as  if  we  were  Germans  or  Spaniards." 

I  was  in  despair.  But  in  the  midst  of  my  despair 
on  the  staircase,  I  suddenly  perceived  an  odor  of 
good  things  from  the  kitchen,  and  I  went  up  in  sur- 
prise, for  I  smelt  fish  and  roast,  as  if  it  were  a  feast 
day. 

I  was  going  into  the  kitchen,  when  Sorle  appeared 
and  said: 

"  Go  into  your  chamber,  shave  yourself,  and  put 
on  a  clean  shirt." 


THE    BLOCKADE  6j,| 

I  saw,  at  the  same  time,  that  she  was  dressed  in 
her  Sabbath  clothes,  with  her  ear-rings,  her  green 
skirt,  and  her  red  silk  neckerchief. 

"  But  why  must  I  shave,  Sorle?  "  I  exclaimed. 

"  Go  quick;  you  have  no  time  to  lose!  "  replied 
she. 

This  woman  had  so  much  good  sense,  she  had  so 
many  times  set  things  right  by  her  ready  wit,  that 
I  said  nothing  more,  and  went  into  my  bedroom  to 
shave  myself  and  put  on  a  clean  shirt. 

As  I  was  putting  on  my  shirt  I  heard  little  Safel 
cry  out : 

"  Here  he  is,  mamma !  here  he  is !  " 

Then  steps  were  heard  on  the  stairs,  and  a  rough 
voice  called : 

"Holla!  you  folks.     Ho!" 

I  thought  to  myself:  "  It  is  the  sergeant,"  and  I 
listened. 

"  Ah !  here  is  our  sergeant !  "  cried  Safel,  tri- 
umphantly. 

"  Oh!  that  is  good,"  replied  my  wife,  in  a  cheer- 
ful tone.  "  Come  in,  Mr.  Sergeant,  come  in !  We 
were  expecting  you.  I  knew  that  we  were  to  have 
the  honor  of  having  a  sergeant;  we  were  glad  to 
hear  it,  because  we  have  had  only  common  sol- 
diers before.  Be  so  good  as  to  come  in,  Mr. 
Sergeant." 


70  THE   BLOCKADE 

She  spoke  in  this  way  as  if  she  were  really  pleased, 
and  I  thought  to  myself: 

"  O  Sorle,  Sorle!'  You  shrewd  woman!  You 
sensible  woman !  I  see  through  it  now.  I  see  your 
cunning.  You  are  going  to  mollify  this  rascal! 
Ah,  Moses!  what  a  wife  you  have!  Congratulate 
yourself!  Congratulate  yourself!  " 

I  hastened  to  dress  myself,  laughing  all  the  while; 
and  I  heard  this  brute  of  a  sergeant  say: 

"  Yes,  yes!  It  is  all  very  well.  But  that  isn't 
the  point!  Show  me  my  room,  my  bed.  You 
can't  pay  me  with  fine  speeches;  people  know  Ser- 
geant Trubert  too  well  for  that." 

"  Certainly,  Mr.  Sergeant,  certainly,"  replied  my 
wife,  "  here  is  your  room  and  your  bed.  See,  it  is 
the  best  we  have." 

Then  they  went  into  the  passage,  and  I  heard 
Sorle  open  the  door  of  the  handsome  room  which 
Baruch  and  Zeffen  occupied  when  they  came  to 
Phalsburg. 

I  followed  them  softly.  The  sergeant  thrust  his 
fist  into  the  bed  to  feel  if  it  was  soft.  Sorle  and 
Safel  looked  on  smilingly  behind  him.  He  exam- 
ined every  corner  with  a  scowl.  You  never  saw 
such  a  face,  Fritz;  a  gray  bristling  mustache,  a  long 
thin  nose,  hooked  over  the  mouth ;  a  yellow  skin,  full 
of  wrinkles:  he  dragged  the  butt-end  of  his  gun  on 


"BE  so  GOOD  AS  TO  COME  IN,  MR.  SERGEANT." 


THE   BLOCKADE  71 

the  floor,  without  seeming  to  notice  anything,  and 
muttered  ill-naturedly: 

"Hem!  hem!     What  is  that  down  there?  " 

"  It  is  the  wash-basin,  Mr.  Sergeant." 

"  And  these  chairs,  are  they  strong?  Will  they 
bear  anything? " 

He  knocked  them  rudely  down.  It  was  evident 
he  wanted  to  find  fault  with  something. 

On  turning  round  he  saw  me,  and  looking  at  me 
sideways,  asked: 

"  Are  you  the  citizen?  " 

"  Yes,  sergeant;  I  am." 

"Ah!" 

He  put  his  gun  in  a  corner,  threw  his  knapsack  on 
the  table,  and  said : 

"  That  will  do !     You  may  go." 

Safel  had  opened  the  kitchen  door,  and  the  good 
smell  of  the  roast  came  into  the  room. 

"  Mr.  Sergeant,"  said  Sorle  very  pleasantly,  "  al- 
low me  to  ask  a  favor  of  you." 

"  You!  "  said  he,  looking  at  her  over  his  shoul- 
der, "  ask  a  favor  of  me !  " 

"  Yes.  It  is  that  since  you  now  lodge  with  us, 
and  will  be  in  some  respects  one  of  the  family,  you 
will  give  us  the  pleasure  of  dining  with  us,  at  least 
for  once." 


72  THE   BLOCKADE 

"  Ah,  all !  "  said  he,  turning  his  nose  toward  the 
kitchen,  "  that  is  another  thing !  " 

He  seemed  to  be  considering  whether  to  grant  us 
this  favor  or  not.  We  waited  for  him  to  answer, 
when  he  gave  another  sniff  and  threw  his  cartridge- 
box  on  the  bed,  saying: 

"  Well,  so  be  it !     We  will  go  and  see !  " 

"  Wretch !  "  thought  I,  "  if  I  could  make  you  eat 
potatoes!  " 

But  Sorle  seemed  satisfied,  and  said : 

"  This  way,  Mr.  Sergeant;  this  way,  if  you 
please." 

When  we  went  into  the  dining-room  I  saw  that 
everything  was  prepared  as  if  for  a  prince;  the  floor 
swept,  the  table  carefully  laid,  a  white  table-cloth, 
and  our  silver  knives  and  forks. 

Sorle  placed  the  sergeant  in  my  arm-chair  at.  the 
head  of  the  table,  which  seemed  to  him  the  most 
natural  thing  in  the  world. 

Our  servant  brought  in  the  large  tureen  and  took 
off  the  cover;  the  odor  of  a  good  cream  soup  filled 
the  room,  and  we  began  our  dinner. 

Fritz,  I  could  tell  you  everything  we  had  for  din- 
ner; but  believe  me,  neither  you  nor  I  ever  had  a 
better.  We  had  a  roasted  goose,  a  magnificent  pike, 
sauerkraut,  everything,  in  fact,  which  could  be  de- 
sired for  a  grand  dinner,  and  all  served  by  Sorle  in 


THE   BLOCKADE  73 

the  most  perfect  manner.  We  had,  too,  four  bottles 
of  Beaujolais  warmed  in  napkins,  as  was  the  custom 
in  winter,  and  an  abundant  dessert. 

"Well !  do  you  believe  that  the  rascal  once  had  the 
grace  to  seem  pleased  with  all  this?  Do  you  believe 
that  all  through  this  dinner,  which  lasted  nearly  two 
hours,  he  once  thought  of  saying,  "  This  pike  is  ex- 
cellent! "  or,  "  This  fat  goose  is  well  cooked!  "  or, 
"  You  have  very  good  wine !  "  or  any  of  the  other 
things  which  we  know  are  pleasant  for  a  host  to  hear, 
and  which  repay  a  good  cook  for  his  trouble?  Ko, 
Fritz,  not  once !  You  would  have  supposed  that  he 
had  such  dinners  every  day.  The  more  even  that 
my  wife  flattered  him,  and  the  more  kindly  she 
spoke  to  him,  the  more  he  rebuffed  her,  the  more  he 
scowled,  the  more  defiantly  he  looked  at  us,  as  if  we 
wanted  to  poison  him. 

From  time  to  time  I  looked  indignantly  at  Sorle, 
but  she  kept  on  smiling;  she  kept  on  giving  the 
nicest  bits  to  the  sergeant;  she  kept  on  filling  his 
glass. 

Two  or  three  times  I  wanted  to  say,  "  Ah,  Sorle, 
what  a  good  cook  you  are!  How  nice  this  force- 
meat is!  "  But  suddenly  the  sergeant  would  look 
down  upon  me  as  if  to  say,  "  What  does  that  signify? 
Perhaps  you  want  to  give  me  lessons?  Don'*-  I 


74  THE   BLOCKADE 

know  better  than  you  do  whether  a  thing  is  good  of 
bad?" 

So  I  kept  silence.  I  could  have  wished  him — 
well,  in  worse  company;  I  grew  more  and  more  in- 
dignant at  every  morsel  which  he  swallowed  in  si- 
lence. Nevertheless  Sorle's  example  encouraged 
me  to  put  a  good  face  on  the  matter,  and  toward  the 
end  I  thought,  "  Now,  since  the  dinner  is  eaten, 
since  it  is  almost  over,  we  will  go  on,  with  God's 
help.  Sorle  was  mistaken,  but  it  is  all  the  same; 
her  idea  was  a  good  one,  except  for  such  a  rascal!  " 

And  I  myself  ordered  coffee;  I  went  to  the  closet, 
too,  to  get  some  cherry-brandy  and  old  rum. 

"  What  is  that?  "  asked  the  sergeant. 

"  Rum  and  cherry-brandy;  old  cherry-brandy 
from  the  '  Black  Forest,'  "  I  replied. 

"  Ah,"  said  he,  winking,  "  everybody  says,  1 1 
have  got  some  cherry-brandy  from  the  Black  For- 
est! '  It  is  very  easy  to  say;  but  they  can't  cheat 
Sergeant  Trubert;  we  will  see  about  this!  " 

In  taking  his  coffee  he  twice  filled  his  glass  with 
cherry-brandy,  and  both  times  said,  "  He !  he !  We 
will  see  whether  it  is  genuine." 

I  could  have  thrown  the  bottle  at  his  head. 

As  Sorle  went  to  him  to  pour  a  third  glassful,  he 
rose  and  said,  "  That  is  enough;  thank  you!  The 
posts  are  doubled.  This  evening  I  shall  be  on  guard 


THE   BLOCKADE  75 

at  the  French  gate.  The  dinner,  to  be  sure,  was  not 
a  bad  one.  If  you  give  me  such  now  and  then,  we 
can  get  along  with  each  other." 

He  did  not  smile,  and,  indeed,  seemed  to  be  ridi- 
culing us. 

"  "We  will  do  our  best,  Ifr.  Sergeant,"  replied 
Sorle,  while  he  went  into  his  room  and  took  his 
great-coat  to  go  out. 

"  We  will  see,"  said  he  as  he  went  downstairs, 
"  we  will  see !  " 

Till  now  I  had  said  nothing,  but  when  he  was 
down  I  exclaimed,  "  Sorle,  never,  no  never,  was 
there  such  a  rascal !  "We  shall  never  get  along  with 
this  man.  He  will  drive  us  all  from  the  house." 

"  Bah !  bah !  Moses,"  she  replied,  laughing,  "  I 
do  not  think  as  thou  dost !  I  have  quite  the  contrary 
idea;  we  will  be  good  friends,  thou'lt  see,  thou'lt 
see! " 

"  God  grant  it!  "  I  said;  "  but  I  have  not  much 
hope  of  it." 

She  smiled  as  she  took  off  the  table-cloth,  and 
gave  me  too  a  little  confidence,  for  this  woman  had 
a  good  deal  of  shrewdness,  and  I  acknowledged  her 
sound  judgment 


vn 

SERGEANT  TEUBERT  IN  A  NEW  LIGHT 

You  see,  Fritz,  what  the  common  people  had  to 
endure  in  those  days.  Ah,  well!  just  as  we  were 
performing  extra  service,  while  Monborne  was  com- 
manding me  at  the  drilling,  while  Sergeant  Trubert 
was  down  upon  me,  while  we  were  hearing  of  domi- 
ciliary visits  of  inspection  to  ascertain  what  provi- 
sions the  citizens  had — in  the  midst  of  all  this,  my 
dozen  pipes  of  spirits  of  wine  were  being  slowly 
wheeled  over  the  road. 

How  I  repented  of  having  ordered  them !  How 
often  I  could  have  torn  my  hair  as  I  thought  that 
half  my  thirty  years'  gains  were  at  the  mercy  of  cir- 
cumstances! How  I  prayed  for  the  Emperor! 
How  I  ran  every  morning  to  the  coffee-houses  and 
ale-houses  to  learn  the  news,  and  how  I  trembled  as 
I  read ! 

Nobody  knew  what  I  suffered,  not  even  Sorle,  for 
I  kept  it  all  from  her.  She  was  too  keen-sighted 

76 


THE   BLOCKADE  77 

not  to  perceive  my  anxiety,  and  sometimes  she 
would  say,  "  Come,  Moses,  have  courage !  All  will 
come  right — patience  a  little  longer!  " 

But  the  rumors  which  came  from  Alsace,  and 
German  Lorraine,  and  Hundsruck,  quite  upset  me : 
"  They  are  coming!  They  will  not  dare  to  come! 
We  are  ready  for  them !  They  will  take  us  by  sur- 
prise !  Peace  is  going  to  be  made !  They  will  pass 
by  to-morrow!  We  shall  have  no  fighting  this  win- 
ter! They  can  wait  no  longer!  The  Emperor  is 
still  in  Paris!  Marshal  Victor  is  at  Huninguen! 
They  are  impressing  the  custom-house  officers,  the 
forest-keepers,  and  the  gendarmerie!  Some  Span- 
ish dragoons  went  down  by  Saverne  yesterday! 
The  mountaineers  are  to  defend  the  Vosges !  There 
will  be  fighting  in  Alsace!  "  etc.,  etc.  Your  head 
would  have  been  turned,  Fritz.  In  the  morning 
the  wind  would  blow  one  way  and  put  you  in  good 
spirits;  at  night  it  would  blow  another  way  and  you 
would  be  miserable. 

And  my  spirits  of  wine  were  coming  nearer  and 
nearer,  and  at  last  arrived,  in  the  midst  of  this  con- 
flict of  news,  which  might  any  day  turn  into  a  con- 
flict of  bullets  and  shells.  If  it  had  not  been  for  my 
other  troubles  I  should  have  been  beside  myself. 
Fortunately,  my  indignation  against  Monborne  and 
the.  other  villains  diverted  my  mind. 


78  THE   BLOCKADE 

We  heard  nothing  more  of  Sergeant  Trubert  af- 
ter the  great  dinner  for  the  remainder  of  that  day, 
and  the  night  following,  as  he  was  on  guard;  but  the 
next  morning,  as  I  was  getting  up,  behold,  he  came 
up  the  stairs,  with  his  musket  on  his  shoulder;  he 
opened  the  door  and  began  to  laugh,  with  his  mus- 
taches all  white  with  frost.  I  had  just  put  on  my 
pantaloons,  and  looked  at  him  in  astonishment.  My 
wife  was  still  in  her  room. 

"  He !  he !  Father  Moses,"  said  he,  in  a  good- 
natured  voice,  "  it  has  been  a  dreadful  cold  night." 
He  did  not  look  or  speak  like  the  same  person. 

"  Yes,  sergeant,"  I  replied,  "  it  is  December,  and 
that  is  what  we  must  expect." 

"  What  we  must  expect,"  he  repeated; — "  all  the 
more  reason  for  taking  a  drop.  Let  us  see,  is  there 
any  more  of  that  old  cherry-brandy?  " 

He  looked,  as  he  spoke,  as  if  he  could  see  through 
me.  I  got  up  at  once  from  my  arm-chair,  and  ran 
to  fetch  the  bottle:  "Yes,  yes,  sergeant,"  I  ex- 
claimed, "  there  is  more,  drink  and  enjoy  it." 

As  I  said  this,  his  face,  still  a  little  hard,  seemed 
to  smile  all  over.  He  placed  his  gun  in  a  corner, 
and,  standing  up,  handed  me  the  glass,  saying, 
"  Pour  out,  Father  Moses,  pour  out!  " 

I  filled  it  brimful.  As  I  did  so,  he  laughed 
quietly.  His  yellow  face  puckered  up  in  hundreds, 


THE   BLOCKADE  79 

of  wrinkles  at  the  corners  of  his  eyes,  and  around 
his  cheeks  and  mustaches  and  chin.  He  did  not 
laugh  so  as  to  be  heard,  but  his  eyes  showed  his 
good-humor. 

"  Famous  cherry-brandy  this,  in  truth,  Father 
Moses!  "  he  said  as  he  drank  it.  "  A  body  knows 
who  has  drank  it  in  the  Black  Forest,  where  it  cost 
nothing !  Aren't  you  going  to  drink  with  me  ?  " 

"  With  pleasure,"  I  answered.  And  we  drank 
together.  He  looked  at  me  all  the  time.  Sudden- 
ly he  said,  with  a  mischievous  look,  "  Hey,  Father 
Moses,  say,  you  were  afraid  of  me  yesterday?  "  He 
smiled  as  he  spoke. 

"  Oh— Sergeant " 

"  Come,  come,"  said  he,  laying  his  hand  upon  my 
shoulder — "  confess  that  I  frightened  you." 

He  smiled  so  pleasantly  that  I  could  not  help  say- 
ing: "  Well,  yes,  a  little!  " 

"He!  he!  he!  I  knew  it  very  well,"  said  he. 
"  You  had  heard  them  say,  '  Sergeant  Trubert  is  a 
tough  one ! '  You  were  afraid,  and  you  gave  me  a 
dinner  fit  for  a  prince  to  coax  me !  " 

He  laughed  aloud,  and  I  ended  by  laughing  too. 
Sorle  had  heard  all,  in  the  next  room,  and  now  came 
to  the  door  and  said,  "  Good-morning,  Mr.  Ser- 
geant." 

He  exclaimed,  "  Father  Moses,  here  is  what  may 


8o  THE   BLOCKADE 

be  called  a  woman!  You  can  boast  of  having  a 
spirited  woman,  a  sly  woman,  slyer  than  you  are, 
Father  Moses;  he,  he,  he!  That  is  as  it  should  be 
— that  is  as  it  should  be !  " 

Sorle  was  delighted. 

"  Oh !  Mr.  Sergeant,"  said  she,  "  can  you  really 
think  so?" 

"  Bah !  bah !  "  he  exclaimed.  "  You  are  a  first- 
rate  woman !  I  saw  you  when  I  first  came,  and  said 
to  myself, '  Take  heed,  Trubert!  They  make  a  fair 
pretence ;  it  is  a  stratagem  to  send  you  to  the  hotel  to 
sleep.  We  will  let  the  enemy  unmask  his  bat- 
teries! ' 

"Ha!  ha!  ha!  You  are  nice  folks.  You  gave 
me  a  dinner  fit  for  a  Marshal  of  the  Empire.  Now, 
Father  Moses,  I  invite  myself  to  take  a  small  glass 
of  cherry-brandy  with  you  now  and  then.  Put  the 
bottle  aside,  by  itself,  it  is' excellent !  And  as  for 
the  rest,  the  room  which  you  have  given  me  is  too 
handsome ;  I  don't  like  such  gewgaws ;  this  fine  fur- 
niture and  these  soft  beds  are  good  for  women. 
What  I  want  is  a  small  room,  like  that  at  the  side, 
two  good  chairs,  a  pine  table,  a  plain  bed  with  a 
mattress,  paillasse,  and  coverings,  and  five  or  six 
nails  in  the  wall  for  hanging  my  things.  You  just 
give  me  that!  " 

"  Since  you  wish  it,  Mr.  Sergeant." 


THE   BLOCKADE  81 

"  Yes,  I  wish,  it;  the  handsome  room  will  be  for 
state  occasions." 

"  You  will  breakfast  with  us? "  asked  my  wife, 
well  pleased. 

"  I  breakfast  and  dine  at  the  cantine,"  replied  the 
sergeant.  "  I  do  very  well  there ;  and  I  don't  want 
to  have  good  people  go  to  any  expense  for  me. 
When  people  respect  an  old  soldier  as  he  ought  to 
be  respected,  when  they  treat  him  kindly,  when 
they  are  like  you, — Trubert,  too,  is  what  he  ought 
to  be." 

"  But,  Mr.  Sergeant!  "  said  Sorle. 

"  Call  me  sergeant,"  said  he,  "  I  know  you  now. 
You  are  not  like  all  the  rabble  of  the  city;  rascals 
who  have  been  growing  rich  while  we  have  been  off 
fighting;  wretches  who  do  nothing  but  heap  up 
money  and  grow  big  at  the  expense  of  the  army, 
who  live  on  us,  who  are  indebted  to  us  for  every- 
thing, and  who  send  us  to  sleep  in  nests  of  vermin. 
Ah !  a  thousand  million  thunders !  " 

His  face  resumed  its  bad  look;  his  mustaches 
shook  with  his  anger,  and  I  thought  to  myself, 
"What  a  good  idea  it  was  to  treat  him  well! 
Sorle's  ideas  are  always  good !  " 

But  in  a  moment  he  relaxed,  and  laying  his  hand 
on  my  arm,  he  exclaimed : 

"  To  think  that  you  are  Jews!  a  kind  of  abomina- 


82  THE   BLOCKADE 

ble  race;  everything  that  is  dirty  and  vile  and  nig- 
gardly! To  think  that  you  are  Jews!  It  is  true, 
is  it  not,  that  you  are  Jews?  " 

"  Yes,  sir,"  replied  Sorle. 

"  Well,  upon  my  word,  I  am  surprised  to  hear  it," 
said  he;  "  I  have  seen  so  many  Jews,  in  Poland  and 
Germany,  that  I  thought  to  myself  '  They  are  send- 
ing me  to  some  Jews;  they  had  better  look  out  or 
I'll  smash  everything.' ' 

We  kept  silent  in  our  mortification,  and  he  added, 
"  Come,  we  will  say  no  more  about  that.  You  are 
good,  honest  people;  I  should  be  sorry  to  trouble 
you.  Your  hand,  Father  Moses!  " 

I  gave  him  my  hand. 

"  I  like  you,"  said  he.  "  Now,  Madame  Moses, 
the  side  room !  " 

We  showed  him  the  small  room  that  he  asked  for, 
and  he  went  at  once  to  fetch  his  knapsack  from  the 
other,  saying  as  he  went : 

"  Now  I  am  among  honest  people !  We  shall 
have  no  difficulty  in  getting  along  together.  You 
do  not  trouble  me,  I  do  not  trouble  you;  I  come  in 
and  go  out,  by  day  or  night;  it  is  Sergeant  Trubert, 
that  is  enough.  And  now  and  then,  in  the  morn- 
ing, we  will  take  our  little  glass;  it  is  agreed,  is  it 
not,  Father  Moses? " 

"  Yes,  sergeant." 


THE   BLOCKADE  83 

"  And  here  is  the  key  of  the  house,"  said  Sorle. 

"  Very  well;  everything  is  arranged;  now  I  am 
going  to  take  a  nap;  good-by,  my  friends." 

"  I  hope  you  will  sleep  well,  sergeant."  "We  went 
out  at  once,  and  heard  him  lie  down. 

"  You  see,  Moses,  you  see,"  whispered  my  wife, 
in  the  alley,  "  it  has  all  come  right." 

"  Yes,"  I  replied,  "  all  right,  excellent ;  your  plan 
was  a  good  one ;  and  now,  if  the  spirits  of  wine  only 
come,  we  shall  be  happy." 


vrn 


FBOM  that  time  the  sergeant  lived  with  us  with- 
out troubling  anybody.  Every  morning,  before  he 
went  to  his  duties,  he  came  and  sat  a  few  minutes  in 
my  room,  and  talked  with  me  while  he  took  his 
glass.  He  liked  to  laugh  with  Safel,  and  we  called 
him  "  our  sergeant,"  as  if  he  were  one  of  the  family. 
He  seemed  to  like  to  be  with  us;  he  was  a  careful 
man;  he  would  not  allow  our  schabisbo'ie  to  black 
his  shoes;  he  cleaned  his  own  buff-skins,  and  would 
not  let  any  one  touch  his  arms. 

One  morning,  when  I  was  going  to  answer  to  the 
call,  he  met  me  in  the  alley,  and,  seeing  a  little  rust 
on  my  musket,  he  began  to  swear  like  the  devil. 

"  Ah !  Father  Moses,  if  I  had  you  in  my  com- 
pany, it  would  go  hard  with  you !  " 

"  Yes,"  thought  I;  "  but,  thank  God,  I'm  not." 

Sorle,  leaning  over  the  balustrades  above, 
laughed  heartily. 

From  that  time  the  sergeant  regularly  inspected 
84 


THE   BLOCKADE  85 

my  equipments;  I  must  clean  my  gun  over  and  over, 
take  it  to  pieces,  clean  the  barrel  and  furbish  the 
bayonet,  as  if  I  expected  to  go  and  fight.  And  even 
when  he  knew  how  Monborne  treated  me,  he  also 
wanted  to  teach  me  the  exercises.  All  my  remon- 
strances were  of  no  avail,  he  would  frown,  and  say : 

"  Father  Moses,  I  can't  stand  it,  that  an  honest 
man  like  you  should  know  less  than  the  rabble.  Go 
along!  " 

And  then  we  would  up  to  the  loft.  It  was  very 
cold,  but  the  sergeant  was  so  provoked  at  my  want 
of  briskness  in  performing  the  movements,  that  he 
always  put  me  in  a  great  perspiration  before  we  fin- 
ished. 

"  Attention  to  the  word  of  command,  and  no  lazi- 
ness !  "  he  would  exclaim. 

I  used  to  hear  Sorle,  Saf el,  and  the  servant  laugh- 
ing in  the  stairway,  as  they  peeped  through  the 
laths,  and  I  did  not  dare  to  turn  my  head.  In  fine, 
it  was  entirely  owing  to  this  good  Trubert  that  I 
learned  to  charge  well,  and  became  one  of  the  best 
vaulters  in  the  company. 

Ah !  Fritz,  it  would  all  have  been  very  well  if  the 
spirits  of  wine  had  come;  but  instead  of  my  dozen 
pipes,  there  came  half  a  company  of  marine  artil- 
lery, and  four  hundred  recruits  for  the  sixth  light 
infantry. 


86  THE   BLOCKADE 

About  this  time  the  governor  ordered  that  a  space 
six  hundred  metres  wide  should  be  cleared  all  round 
the  city. 

You  should  have  seen  the  havoc  that  was  made 
in  the  place;  the  fences,  palisades,  and  trees  hewn 
down,  the  houses  demolished,  from  wThich  every- 
body carried  away  a  beam  or  some  timbers.  You 
should  have  looked  down  from  the  ramparts  and 
seen  the  little  gardens,  the  line  of  poplars,  the  old 
trees  in  the  orchards  felled  to  the  ground  and 
dragged  away  by  swarms  of  workmen.  You  should 
have  seen  all  this  to  know  what  war  is ! 

Father  Frise,  the  two  Camus  boys,  the  Sades,  the 
Bosserts,  and  all  the  families  of  the  gardeners  and 
small  farmers  who  lived  at  Phalsburg,  suffered  the 
most.  I  can  almost  hear  old  Fritz  exclaim: 

"Ah!  my  poor  apple-trees!  Ah!  my  poor  pear- 
trees;  I  planted  you  myself,  forty  years  ago.  How 
beautiful  you  were,  always  covered  with  fine  fruit ! 
Oh,  misery!  misery!  " 

And  the  soldiers  still  chopped  away.  Toward 
the  end,  old  Fritz  went  away,  his  cap  drawn  over 
his  eyes,  and  weeping  bitterly. 

The  rumor  spread  also  that  they  were  going  to 
burn  the  Maisons  Rouges  at  the  foot  of  the  Mittel- 
bronn  hill,  the  tile-kiln  at  Pernette,  and  the  little 
inns  of  VArbre  Vert  and  Panier  Fleuri,  but  it 


THE   BLOCKADE  87 

seemed  that  the  governor  found  it  was  not  neces- 
sary as  these  houses  were  Out  of  range;  or  rather, 
that  they  would  reserve  that  till  later;  and,  that 
the  allies  were  coming  sooner  than  they  were 
expected. 

Of  what  happened  before  the  blockade,  I  remem- 
ber, too,  that  on  the  twenty-second  of  December, 
about  eleven  o'clock  in  the  morning,  the  call  was 
beat.  Everybody  supposed  that  it  was  for  the  drill, 
and  I  set  out  quietly,  with  my  musket  on  my  shoul- 
der, as  usual;  but,  as  I  reached  the  corner  of  the 
mayoralty,  I  saw  the  troops  of  the  garrison  formed 
under  the  trees  of  the  square. 

They  placed  us  with  them  in  two  ranks;  and  then 
Governor  Moulin,  Commandants  Thomas  and  Pet- 
tigenet,  and  the  mayor,  with  his  tri-colored  sash,  ar- 
rived. 

They  beat  the  march,  and  then  the  drum-major 
raised  his  baton,  and  the  drums  stopped.  The  gov- 
ernor began  to  speak,  everybody  listened,  and  the 
words  heard  from  a  distance  were  repeated  from  one 
to  another. 

"  Officers,  non-commissioned,  National  Guards, 
and  Soldiers ! 

"  The  enemy  is  concentrated  upon  the  Rhine, 
only  three  days'  march  from  us.  The  city  is  de- 
clared to  be  in  a  state  of  siege;  the  civil  authorities 


88  THE   BLOCKADE 

give  place  to  martial  law.  A  permanent  court- 
martial  replaces  ordinary  tribunals. 

"  Inhabitants  of  Phalsburg !  we  expect  from  you 
courage,  devotion,  obedience!  Vive  VEmpereur!  " 

And  a  thousand  cries  of  "Vive  VEmpereur!" 
filled  the  air. 

I  trembled  to  the  ends  of  my  hair;  my  spirits  of 
wine  were  still  on  the  road;  I  considered  myself  a 
ruined  man. 

The  immediate  distribution  of  cartridges,  and  the 
order  to  the  battalion  to  go  and  forage  for  pro- 
visions, and  bring  in  cattle  from  the  surrounding 
villages  for  the  supply  of  the  city,  prevented  me 
from  thinking  of  my  misfortune. 

I  had  also  to  think  of  my  own  life,  for,  in  receiv- 
ing such  an  order,  we  supposed  of  course  that  the 
peasants  would  resist,  and  it  is  abominable  to  have 
to  fight  the  people  you  are  robbing. 

I  was  very  pale  as  I  thought  of  all  this. 

But  when  Commandant  Thomas  cried  out, 
"  Charge !  "  and  I  tore  off  my  first  cartridge,  and 
put  it  in  the  barrel,  and,  instead  of  hearing  the  ram- 
rod I  felt  a  ball  at  the  bottom ! — when  they  ordered 
us:  "By  file — left!  left!  forward!  quick  step! 
march !  "  and  we  set  out  for  the  barracks  of  the 
Bois-de-Chenes,  while  the  first  battalion  went  on  to 
Quatre- Vents  and  Bichelberg,  the  second  to  We- 


THE   BLOCKADE  89 

chern  and  Metting;  when  I  thought  that  we  were 
going  to  seize  and  carry  away  everything,  and  that 
the  court-martial  was  at  the  mayoralty  to  pass  sen- 
tence upon  those  who  did  not  do  their  duty; — all 
these  new  and  terrible  things  completely  upset  me. 
I  was  troubled  as  I  saw  the  village  in  the  distance, 
and  pictured  to  myself  beforehand  the  cries  of  the 
women  and  children. 

You  see,  Fritz,  to  take  from  the  poor  peasant  all 
his  living  at  the  beginning  of  winter;  to  take  from 
him  his  cow,  his  goats,  his  pigs,  everything  in  short, 
it  is  dreadful!  and  my  own  misfortune  made  me 
feel  more  for  that  of  others. 

And  then,  as  we  marched,  I  thought  of  my  daugh- 
ter Zeffen,  and  Baruch,  and  their  children,  and  I 
exclaimed  to  myself: 

"Mercy  on  us!  if  the  enemy  comes,  what  will 
they  do  in  an  exposed  town  like  Saverne?  They 
will  lose  everything.  We  may  be  beggared  any 
day." 

These  thoughts  took  away  my  breath,  and  in  the 
midst  of  them  I  saw  some  peasants,  who,  from  their 
little  windows,  watched  our  approach  over  the  fields 
and  along  their  street,  without  stirring.  They  did 
not  know  what  we  were  coming  for. 

Six  mounted  soldiers  preceded  us;  Commandant 
Thomas  ordered  them  to  pass  to  the  right  and  left 


90  THE   BLOCKADE 

of  the  barracks,  to  prevent  the  peasants  from  driv- 
ing their  cattle  into  the  woods,  when  they  had  found 
out  that  we  had  come  to  rob  them. 

They  set  off  on  a  gallop. 

We  came  to  the  first  house,  where  there  is  the 
stone  crucifix.  We  heard  the  order: 

"Halt!" 

Then  thirty  men  were  detached  to  act  as  sen- 
tinels in  the  little  streets,  and  I  was  among  the  num- 
ber, which  I  liked,  for  I  preferred  being  on  duty 
to  going  into  their  stables  and  barns. 

As  we  filed  through  the  principal  street  the  peas- 
ants asked  us: 

"  What  is  going  on  ?  Have  they  been  cutting 
wood  ?  Have  they  been  making  arrests  ?  "  and  such 
like  questions.  But  we  did  not  answer  them,  and 
hastened  on. 

Monborne  placed  me  in  the  third  street  to  the 
right,  near  the  large  house  of  Father  Franz,  who 
raised  bees  on  the  slope  of  the  valley  behind  his 
house.  We  heard  the  sheep  bleating  and  the  cattle 
lowing;  that  wretch  of  a  Monborne  said,  winking 
at  me: 

"  It  will  be  jolly!  We  will  make  the  Baraquois 
open  their  eyes." 

He  had  no  mercy  in  him.    He  said  to  me: 

"  Moses,  thou  must  stay  there.    If  any  one  tries 


THE  BLOCKADE  91 

to  pass,  cross  your  bayonet.  If  any  one  resists, 
prick  him  well  and  then  fire.  The  law  must  be  sup- 
ported by  force." 

I  don't  know  where  the  cobbler  picked  up  that 
expression;  but  he  left  me  in  the  street,  between 
two  fences  white  with  frost,  and  went  on  his  way 
with  the  rest  of  the  guard. 

I  waited  there  nearly  twenty  minutes,  consider- 
ing what  I  should  do  if  the  peasants  tried  to  save 
their  property,  and  thinking  it  would  be  much  bet- 
ter to  fire  upon  the  cattle  than  upon  their  owners. 

I  was  much  perplexed  and  was  very  cold,  when  I 
heard  a  great  shouting;  at  the  same  time  the  drum 
began  to  beat.  Some  men  went  into  the  stables  and 
drove  the  cattle.  The  Baraquins  swore  and  wept; 
some  tried  to  defend  themselves.  Commandant 
Thomas  cried  out : 

"  To  the  square !  Drive  them  to  the  square !  " 

Some  cows  escaped  through  the  fences,  and  you 
can't  imagine  what  a  tumult  there  was.  I  congratu- 
lated myself  that  I  was  not  in  the  midst  of  this 
pillage.  But  this  did  not  last  long,  for  suddenly  a 
herd  of  goats,  driven  by  two  old  women,  filed  down 
the  street  on  their  way  to  the  valley. 

Then  I  had  to  stop  them  with  my  bayonet  and 
call  out :  -, 

"Halt!" 


92  THE   BLOCKADE 

One  of  the  women,  Mother  Migneron,  knew  me; 
she  had  a  pitchfork,  and  was  very  pale. 

"  Let  me  pass,  Moses,"  said  she. 

I  saw  that  she  was  coming  slowly  toward  me, 
meaning  to  throw  me  down  with  her  pitchfork. 
The  other  tried  to  drive  the  goats  into  a  little  garden 
at  the  side,  but  the  slats  were  too  near  together, 
and  the  fence  too  high. 

I  should  have  liked  to  let  them  go  by,  and  deny 
having  seen  anything;  but,  unfortunately,  Lieu- 
tenant Rollet  came  up  and  called  out: 

"Attention!" 

And  two  men  of  the  company  followed:  Macry 
and  Schweyer,  the  brewer. 

Old  Migneron,  seeing  me  cross  the  bayonet,  be- 
gan to  grind  her  teeth,  saying: 

"  Ah !  wretch  of  a  Jew,  thou'lt  pay  for  this !  " 

She  was  so  angry  that  she  had  no  fear  of  my  mus- 
ket, and  three  times  she  tried  to  thrust  her  pitch- 
fork into  me ;  then  I  found  the  benefit  of  my  drill- 
ing, for  I  parried  all  her  attacks. 

Two  goats  escaped  between  my  legs;  the  rest 
were  taken.  The  soldiers  pushed  back  the  old 
women,  broke  their  pitchforks,  and  finally  regained 
the  chief  street,  which  was  full  of  cattle,  lowing  and 
kicking. 

Old  Migneron  sat  down  on  the  fence  and  tore  her 
hair. 


'AH,   WRETCH  OF  A  JEW,    THOU'LT   PAY  FOB  THIS  ! " 


THE   BLOCKADE  93 

Just  then  two  cows  came  along,  their  tails  in  the 
air,  leaping  over  the  fences  and  upsetting  every- 
thing, the  baskets  of  bees  and  their  old  keeper. 
Fortunately,  as  it  was  winter,  the  bees  remained  as 
if  dead  in  their  baskets,  or  else  I  believe  they  would 
have  routed  our  whole  battalion. 

The  horn  of-  the  hardier*  sounded  in  the  village. 
He  had  been  summoned  in  the  name  of  the  law. 
This  old  hardier,  Nickel,  passed  along  the  street, 
and  the  animals  became  quiet,  and  could  be  put  in 
some  order.  I  saw  the  procession  go  along  the 
street ;  the  oxen  and  cows  in  front,  then  the  goats, 
and  the  pigs  behind. 

The  Baraquins  followed,  flinging  stones  and 
throwing  sticks.  I  saw  that,  if  I  should  be  forgot- 
ten, these  wretches  would  fall  upon  me,  and  I 
should  be  murdered ;  but  Sergeant  Monborne,  with 
other  comrades,  came  and  relieved  me.  They  all 
laughed  and  said: 

"  We  have  shaved  them  well !  There  is  not  a 
goat  left  at  the  Barracks;  we  have  taken  every- 
thing at  one  haul." 

We  hastened  to  rejoin  the  column,  which 
marched  in  two  lines  at  the  right  and  left  of  the 
road,  the  cattle  in  the  middle,  our  company  behind, 
and  Nickel,  with  Commandant  Thomas,  in  front. 

*  Herdsman. 


94  THE   BLOCKADE 

This  formed  a  file  of  at  least  three  hundred  paces. 
On  every  animal  a  bundle  of  hay  had  been  tied  for 
fodder. 

In  this  way  we  passed  slowly  into  the  cemetery 
lane. 

Upon  the  glacis  we  halted,  and  tied  up  the  ani- 
mals, and  the  order  came  to  take  them  down  into 
the  fosses  behind  the  arsenal. 

We  were  the  first  that  returned;  we  had  seized 
thirty  oxen,  forty-five  cows,  a  quantity  of  goats  and 
pigs,  and  some  sheep. 

All  day  long  the  companies  were  coming  back 
with  their  booty,  so  that  the  fosses  were  filled  with 
cattle,  which  remained  in  the  open  air.  Then  the 
governor  said  that  the  garrison  had  provisions  for 
six  months,  and  every  inhabitant  must  prove  that 
he  had  enough  to  last  as  long,  and  that  domiciliary 
visits  were  to  begin. 

We  broke  ranks  before  the  city  hall.  I  was  go- 
ing up  the  main  street,  my  gun  on  my  shoulder, 
when  some  one  called  me: 

"Hey!  Father  Moses!  " 

I  turned  and  saw  our  sergeant. 

"  Well,"  said  he,  laughing,  "  you  have  made 
your  first  attack;  you  have  brought  us  back  some 
provisions.  Well  and  good!  " 

"  Yes,  sergeant,  but  it  is  very  sad!  " 


THE   BLOCKADE  95 

"  What,  sad?  Thirty  oxen,  forty-five  cows,  some 
pigs  and  goats — it  is  magnificent !  " 

"  To  be  sure,  but  if  you  had  heard  the  cries  of 
these  poor  people,  if  you  had  seen  them!  " 

"Bah!  bah!  "said  he.  "  Primo,  Father  Moses, 
soldiers  must  live;  men  must  have  their  rations  if 
they  are  going  to  fight.  I  have  often  seen  these 
things  done  in  Germany  and  Spain  and  Italy! 
Peasants  are  selfishj  they  want  to  keep  their  own;, 
they  do  not  regard  the  honor  of  the  flag;  that  is 
trash !  In  some  respects  they  would  be  worse  than 
townspeople,  if  we  were  foolish  enough  to  listen  to 
them;  we  must  be  strict." 

"  "We  have  been,  sergeant,"  I  replied;  "  but  if  I 
had  been  master,  we  should  not  have  robbed  these 
poor  wretches;  they  are  in  a  pitiable  condition 
enough  already." 

"  You  are  too  compassionate,  Father  Moses,  and 
you  think  that  others  are  like  yourself.  But  we 
must  remember  that  peasants,  citizens,  civilians, 
live  only  by  the  soldiers,  and  have  all  the  profit 
without  wanting  to  pay  any  of  the  cost.  If  we 
followed  your  advice  we  should  die  of  hunger  in 
this  little  town;  our  peasants  would  support  the 
Russians,  the  Austrians,  and  Bavarians  at  our  ex- 
pense. This  pack  of  scoundrels  would  be  having  a 
good  time  from  morning  to  night,  and  the  rest  of 


96  THE   BLOCKADE 

us  would  be  as  poor  as  church-mice.  That  would 
not  do — there  is  no  sense  in  it !  " 

He  laughed  aloud.  We  had  now  come  into  our 
passage,  and  I  went  upstairs. 

"  Is  it  thou,  Moses?  "  asked  Sorle  in  the  darkness, 
for  it  was  nightfall. 

"  Yes,  the  sergeant  and  I." 

"  Ah,  good!  "  said  she;  "  I  was  expecting  you." 

"  Madame  Moses,"  exclaimed  the  sergeant, 
"  your  husband  can  boast  now  of  being  a  real  sol- 
dier; he  has  not  yet  seen  fire,  but  he  has  charged 
with  his  bayonet." 

"  Ah!  "  said  Sorle,  "  I  am  very  glad  to  see  him 
back." 

In  the  room,  through  the  little  white  door-cur- 
tains, we  saw  the  lamp  burning,  and  smelt  the  soup. 
The  sergeant  went  to  his  room,  as  usual,  and  we 
into  ours.  Sorle  looked  at  me  with  her  great  black 
eyes,  she  saw  how  pale  I  was,  and  knew  what  I  was 
thinking  about.  She  took  from  me  my  cartridge- 
box,  and  placed  my  musket  in  the  closet. 

"  Where  is  Saf  el?  "I  asked. 

"  He  must  be  in  the  square.  I  sent  him  to  see 
if  you  had  come  back.  Hark !  There  he  is  coming 
up!" 

Then  I  heard  the  child  come  up  the  stairs;  he 


THE   BLOCKADE  97 

opened  the  door  at  once  and  ran  joyfully  to  embrace 
me. 

We  sat  down  to  dinner,  and,  in  spite  of  my 
trouble,  I  ate  with  a  good  appetite,  having  taken 
nothing  since  morning. 

Suddenly  Sorle  said :  "  If  the  invoice  does  not 
come  before  the  city  gates  are  closed  we  shall  not 
have  to  pay  anything,  for  goods  are  at  the  risk  of 
the  merchant  until  they  are  delivered.  And  we 
have  not  received  the  inventory." 

"  Yes,"  I  replied,  "you  are  right;  M.  Quataya, 
instead  of  sending  us  the  spirits  of  wine  at  once, 
waited  a  week  before  answering  us.  If  he  had  sent 
the  twelve  pipes  that  day  or  the  day  after,  they 
would  be  here  by  this  time.  The  delay  is  not  our 
fault." 

You  see,  Fritz,  how  anxious  we  were;  but,  as  the 
sergeant  came  to  smoke  his  pipe  at  the  corner  of 
the  stove,  as  usual,  we  said  no  more  about  it. 

I  spoke  only  of  my  fears  in  regard  to  Zeffen, 
Baruch,  and  their  children,  in  an  exposed  town  like 
Saverne.  The  sergeant  tried  to  put  my  mind  at 
ease,  and  said  that  in  such  places  they  made,  to  be 
sure,  all  sorts  of  requisitions  in  wines,  brandies,  pro- 
visions, carriages,  carts,  and  horses,  but,  except  in 
case  of  resistance,  the  people  were  let  alone,  and  the 


98  THE   BLOCKADE 

soldiers  even  tried  to  keep  on  good  terms  with 
them. 

We  kept  on  talking  till  nearly  ten  o'clock;  then 
the  sergeant,  who  had  to  keep  guard  at  the  German 
gate,  went  away,  and  we  went  to  bed. 

This  was  the  night  of  the  twenty-second  and 
twenty-third  of  December,  a  very  cold  night. 


IX 

APPROACH    OF    THE    ENEMY 

THE  next  morning,  when  I  threw  back  the  shut- 
ters of  our  room,  everything  was  white  with  snow; 
the  old  elms  of  the  square,  the  street,  the  roofs  of 
the  mayoralty  and  market  and  church.  Some  of 
our  neighbors,  Recco  the  tinman,  Spick  the  baker, 
and  old  Durand  the  mattress-maker,  opened  their 
doors  and  looked  as  if  dazzled,  while  they  ex- 
claimed : 

"  He !    Winter  has  come !  " 

Although  we  see  it  every  year  yet  it  is  like  a  new 
existence.  We  breathe  better  out  of  doors,  and 
within  it  is  a  pleasure  to  sit  in  the  corner  of  the  fire- 
place and  smoke  our  pipes,  while  we  watch  the 
crackling  of  the  red  fire.  Yes,  I  have  always  felt 
so  for  seventy-five  years,  and  I  feel  so  still ! 

I  had  scarcely  opened  the  shutters  when  Safel 
sprang  from  his  bed  like  a  squirrel,  and  came  and 
flattened  his  nose  against  a  pane  of  glass,  his  long 
hair  dishevelled  and  his  legs  bare. 
99 


loo  THE    BLOCKADE 

"  Oh!  snow!  snow!  "  he  exclaimed.  "  Now  we 
can  have  some  slides!  " 

Sorle,  in  the  next  room,  made  haste  to  dress  her- 
self and  run  in.  We  all  looked  out  for  some  min- 
utes; then  I  went  to  make  the  fire,  Sorle  went  to 
the  kitchen,  Safe!  dressed  himself  hastily,  and 
everything  fell  back  into  the  ordinary  channel. 

Notwithstanding  the  falling  snow,  it  was  very 
cold.  You  need  only  to  see  the  fire  kindle  at  once, 
and  hear  it  roar  in  the  stove,  to  know  that  it  was 
freezing  hard. 

As  we  were  eating  our  soup,  I  said  to  Sorle,  "  The 
poor  sergeant  must  have  passed  a  dreadful  night. 
His  little  glass  of  cherry-brandy  will  taste  good." 

"  Yes,"  she  said,  "  it  is  well  you  thought  of  it." 

She  went  to  the  closet,  and  filled  my  little  pocket- 
flask  from  the  bottle  of  cherry-brandy. 

You  know,  Fritz,  that  we  do  not  like  to  go  into 
public  houses  when  we  are  on  our  way  to  our  own 
business.  Each  of  us  carries  his  own  little  bottle 
and  crust  of  bread;  it  is  the  best  way  and  most  con- 
formed to  the  law  of  the  Lord. 

Sorle  then  filled  my  flask,  and  I  put  it  in  my 
pocket,  under  my  great-coat,  to  go  to  the  guard- 
house. Safel  wanted  to  follow  me,  but  his  mother 
told  him  to  stay,  and  I  went  down  alone,  well 
pleased  at  being  able  to  do  the  sergeant  a  kindness. 


THE   BLOCKADE  IOI 

It  was  about  seven  o'clock,  The  snow  falling 
from  the  roofs  at  every  gust  oJ  wind  was  enough  to 
blind  you.  But  going  along  the  walls,  with  my 
nose  in  my  great-coat,  which  \  fas  well  drawn  up  on 
the  shoulders,  I  reached  the  German  gate,  and  was 
about  going  down  the  three  steps  of  the  guard- 
house, under  the  arch  at  the  left,  when  the 
sergeant  himself  opened  the  heavy  door  and  ex- 
claimed : 

"Is  it  you,  Father  Moses!  What  the  devil  has 
brought  you  here  in  this  cold?  " 

The  guard-house  was  full  of  mist;  we  could 
hardly  see  some  men  stretched  on  camp-beds  at  the 
farther  end,  and  five  or  six  veterans  near  the  red-hot 
stove. 

I  stood  and  looked. 

"  Here,"  I  said  to  the  sergeant  as  I  handed  him 
my  little  bottle,  "  I  have  brought  you  your  drop  of 
cherry-brandy;  it  was  such  a  cold  night,  you  must 
need  it." 

"  And  you  have  thought  of  me,  Father  Moses!  " 
he  exclaimed,  taking  me  by  the  arm,  and  looking  at 
me  with  emotion. 

"  Yes,  sergeant." 

"  Well,  I  am  glad  of  it." 

He  raised  the  flask  to  his  mouth  and  took  a  good 
drink.  At  that  moment  there  was  a  distant  cry 


102  THE   BLOCKADE 

"  Who  goes  there?  "  and  the  guard  of  tHe  outpost 
ran  to  open  the  gate. 

"  That  is  good !  "  said  the  sergeant,  tapping  on 
the  cork,  and  giving  me  the  bottle;  "  take  it  back, 
Father  Moses,  and  thank  you!  " 

Then  he  turned  toward  the  half -moon  and  asked, 
"News!  What  is  it?" 

We  both  looked  and  saw  a  hussar  quartermaster, 
a  withered,  gray  old  man,  with  quantities  of  chev- 
rons on  his  arm,  arrive  in  great  haste. 

All  my  life  I  shall  have  that  man  before  my  eyes; 
his  smoking  horse,  his  flying  sabretash,  his  sword 
clinking  against  his  boots;  his  cap  and  jacket  cov- 
ered with  frost;  his  long,  bony,  wrinkled  face,  his 
pointed  nose,  long  chin,  and  yellow  eyes.  I  shall 
always  see  him  riding  like  the  wind,  then  stopping 
his  rearing  horse  under  the  arch  in  front  of  us,  and 
calling  out  to  us  with  a  voice  like  a  trumpet: 
"  Where  is  the  governor's  house,  sergeant?  " 

"  The  first  house  at  the  right,  quartermaster. 
What  is  the  news?" 

"  The  enemy  is  in  Alsace!  " 

Those  who  have  never  seen  such  men — men  ac- 
customed to  long  warfare,  and  hard  as  iron — can 
have  no  idea  of  them.  And  then  if  you  had  heard 
the  exclamation,  "  The  enemy  is  in  Alsace !  "  it 
would  have  made  you  tremble. 


THE   BLOCKADE  103 

The  veterans  had  gone  away;  the  sergeant,  as  he 
saw  the  hussar  fasten  his  horse  at  the  governor's 
door,  said  to  me :  "  Ah,  well,  Father  Moses,  now 
we  shall  see  the  whites  of  their  eyes !  " 

He  laughed,  and  the  others  seemed  pleased. 

As  for  myself,  I  set  forth  quickly,  with  my  head 
bent,  and  in  my  terror  repeating  to  myself  the 
words  of  the  prophet: 

"  One  post  shall  run  to  meet  another,  and  one 
messenger  to  meet  another,  to  show  the  king  that 
his  passages  are  stopped,  and  the  reeds  they  have 
burned  with  fire,  and  the  men  of  war  are  affrighted. 

"  The  mighty  men  have  forborne  to  fight,  they 
have  remained  in  their  holds,  their  might  hath 
failed,  and  the  bars  are  broken. 

"  Set  ye  up  a  standard  in  the  land,  blow  the  trum- 
pet among  the  nations,  prepare  the  nations  against 
her,  call  together  against  her  the  kingdoms,  appoint 
a  captain  against  her. 

"And  the  land  shall  tremble  and  sorrow;  for 
every  purpose  of  the  Lord  shall  be  performed,  to 
make  the  land  a  desolation  without  an  inhabitant !  " 

I  saw  my  ruin  at  hand — the  destruction  of  my 
hopes. 

"  Mercy,  Moses !  "  exclaimed  my  wife,  as  she  saw 
me  come  back,  "  what  is  the  matter?  Your  face  is 
all  drawn  up.  Something  dreadful  has  happened." 


104  THE   BLOCKADE 

"  Yes,  Sorle,"  I  said,  as  I  sat  down;  "  the  time  of 
trouble  has  come  of  which  the  prophet  spoke :  '  The 
king  of  the  south  shall  push  at  him,  and  the  king 
of  the  north  shall  come  against  him  like  a  whirl- 
wind; and  he  shall  enter  into  the  countries  and 
shall  overflow  and  pass  over.' ' 

This  I  said  with  my  hands  raised  toward  heaven. 
Little  Safel  squeezed  himself  between  my  knees, 
while  Sorle  looked  on,  not  knowing  what  to  say; 
and  I  told  them  that  the  Austrians  were  in  Alsace; 
that  the  Bavarians,  Swedes,  Prussians,  and  Russians 
were  coming  by  hundreds  of  thousands;  that  a 
hussar  had  come  to  announce  all  these  calamities; 
that  our  spirits  of  wine  were  lost,  and  ruin  was 
threatening  us. 

f  I  shed  a  few  tears,  and  neither  Sorle  nor  Safel 
would  comfort  me. 

It  was  eight  o'clock.  There  was  a  great  commo- 
tion in  the  city.  We  heard  the  drum  beat,  and 
proclamations  read ;  it  seemed  as  if  the  enemy  were 
already  there. 

One  thing  which  I  remember  especially,  for  we 
had  opened  a  window  to  hear,  was  that  the  gov- 
ernor ordered  the  inhabitants  to  empty  immediately 
their  barns  and  granaries;  and  that,  while  we  were 
listening,  a  large  Alsatian  wagon  with  two  horses, 
with  Baruch  sitting  on  the  pole,  and  Zeffen  behind 


THE   BLOCKADE  105 

on  some  straw — her  infant  in  her  arms,  and  her 
other  child  at  her  side — turned  suddenly  into  the 
street. 

They  were  coming  to  us  for  safety ! 

The  sight  of  them  upset  me,  and  raising  my 
hands,  I  exclaimed : 

"  Lord,  take  from  me  all  weakness !  Thou  seest 
that  I  need  to  live  for  the  sake  of  these  little  ones. 
Therefore  be  thou  my  strength,  and  let  me  not  be 
cast  down !  " 

And  I  went  down  at  once  to  receive  them,  Sorle 
and  Safel  following  me.  I  took  my  daughter  in  my 
arms,  and  helped  her  to  the  ground,  while  Sorle  took 
the  children,  and  Baruch  exclaimed : 

"  We  came  at  the  last  minute !  The  gate  was 
closed  as  soon  as  we  had  come  in.  There  were 
many  others  from  Quatre- Vents  and  Saverne  who 
had  to  stay  outside." 

"  God  be  praised,  Baruch !  "  I  replied.  "  You 
are  all  welcome,  my  dear  children!  I  have  not 
much,  I  am  not  rich ;  but  what  I  have,  you  have — 
it  is  all  yours.  Come  in !  " 

And  we  went  upstairs ;  Zeffen,  Sorle,  and  I  carry- 
ing the  children,  while  Baruch  stayed  to  take  their 
things  out  of  the  wagon,  and  then  he  came  up. 

The  street  was  now  full  of  straw  and  hay,  thrown 
out  from  the  lofts;  there  was  no  wind,  and  the  snow 


Io6  THE   BLOCKADE 

had  stopped  falling.  In  a  little  while  the  shouts 
and  proclamations  ceased. 

Sorle  hastened  to  serve  up  the  remains  of  our 
breakfast,  with  a  bottle  of  wine;  and  Baruch,  while 
he  was  eating,  told  us  that  there  was  a  panic  in 
Alsace,  that  the  Austrians  had  turned  Basle,  and 
were  advancing  by  forced  marches  upon  Schlestadt, 
Neuf  Brisach,  and  Strasburg,  after  having  sur- 
rounded Huninguen. 

"  Everybody  is  escaping,"  said  he.  "  They  are 
fleeing  to  the  mountain,  taking  their  valuables  on 
their  carts,  and  driving  their  cattle  into  the  woods. 
There  is  a  rumor  already  that  bands  of  Cossacks 
have  been  seen  at  Mutzig,  but  that  is  hardly  possi- 
ble, as  the  army  of  Marshal  Victor  is  on  the  Upper 
Rhine,  and  dragoons  are  passing  every  day  to  join 
him.  How  could  they  pass  his  lines  without  giving 
battle?" 

We  were  listening  very  attentively  to  these 
things  when  the  sergeant  came  in.  He  was  just  off 
duty,  and  stood  outside  of  the  door,  looking  at  us 
with  astonishment. 

I  took  Zeffen  by  the  hand,  and  said :  "  Sergeant, 
this  is  my  daughter,  this  is  my  son-in-law,  and  these 
are  my  grandchildren,  about  whom  I  have  told  you. 
They  know  you,  for  I  have  told  them  in  my  letter? 
how  much  we  think  of  you." 


THE   BLOCKADE  107 

The  sergeant  looked  at  Zeffen. — "  Father  Moses," 
said  he,  "  you  have  a  handsome  daughter,  and  your 
son-in-law  looks  like  a  worthy  man." 

Then  he  took  little  Esdras  from  Zeffen's  arms, 
and  lifted  him  up,  and  made  a  face  at  him,  at  which 
the  child  laughed,  and  everybody  was  pleased.  The 
other  little  one  opened  his  eyes  wide  and  looked  on. 

"  My  children  have  come  to  stay  with  me,"  I  said 
to  the  sergeant ;  "  you  will  excuse  them  if  they 
make  a  little  noise  in  the  house?  " 

"How!  Father  Moses,"  he  exclaimed.  "I  will 
excuse  everything!  Do  not  be  concerned;  are  we 
not  old  friends? " 

And  at  once,  in  spite  of  all  we  could  say,  he  chose 
another  room  looking  upon  the  court. 

"  All  the  nestful  ought  to  be  together,"  said  he. 
"  I  am  the  friend  of  the  family,  the  old  sergeant, 
who  will  not  trouble  anybody,  provided  they  are 
willing  to  see  him  here." 

I  was  so  much  moved  that  I  gave  him  both  my 
hands. 

"  It  was  a  happy  day  when  you  entered  my 
house,"  said  I.  "  The  Lord  be  thanked  for  it!  " 

He  laughed,  and  said :  "  Come  now,  Father 
Moses;  come!  Have  I  done  anything  more  than 
was  natural?  "Why  do  you  wonder  at  it?  " 

He  went  at  once  to  get  his  things  and  carry  them 


io8  THE   BLOCKADE 

to  his  new  room ;  and  then  went  away,  so  as  not  to 
disturb  us. 

How  we  are  mistaken!  This  sergeant,  whom 
Frichard  had  sent  to  plague  us,  at  the  end  of  a  fort- 
night was  one  of  our  family ;  he  consulted  our  com- 
fort in  everything — and,  notwithstanding  all  the 
years  that  have  passed  since  then,  I  cannot  think  of 
that  good  man  without  emotion. 

"When  we  were  alone,  Baruch  told  us  that  he 
could  not  stay  at  Phalsburg;  that  he  had  come  to 
bring  his  family,  with  everything  that  he  could  pro- 
vide for  them  in  the  first  hurried  moments;  but 
that,  in  the  midst  of  such  dangers,  when  the  enemy 
could  not  long  delay  coming,  his  duty  was  to  guard 
Ms  house,  and  prevent,  as  much  as  possible,  the  pil- 
lage of  his  goods. 

This  seemed  right,  though  it  made  us  none  the 
less  grieved  to  have  him  go.  We  thought  of  the 
pain  of  living  apart  from  each  other;  of  hearing  no 
tidings;  of  being  all  the  time  uncertain  about  the 
fate  of  our  beloved  ones!  Meanwhile  we  were  all 
busy.  Sorle  and  Zeffen  prepared  the  children's  bed ; 
Baruch  took  out  the  provisions  which  he  had 
brought ;  Saf el  played  with  the  two  little  ones,  and 
I  went  and  came,  thinking  about  our  troubles. 

At  last,  when  the  best  room  was  ready  for  Zeffen 
and  the  children,  as  the  German  gate  was  already 


THE   BLOCKADE  109 

shut,  and  the  French  gate  would  be  open  only  until 
two  o'clock  at  the  latest,  for  strangers  to  leave  the 
city,  Baruch  exclaimed :  "  Zeffen,  the  moment  has 
come!  " 

He  had  scarcely  said  the  words  when  the  great 
agony  began — cries,  embraces,  and  tears! 

Ah!  it  is  a  great  joy  to  be  loved,  the  only  true 
joy  of  life.  But  what  sorrow  to  be  separated!  And 
how  our  family  loved  each  other !  How  Zeffen  and 
Baruch  embraced  one  another!  How  they  leaned 
over  their  little  ones,  how  they  looked  at  them,  and 
began  to  sob  again ! 

What  can  be  said  at  such  a  moment?  I  sat  by 
the  window,  with  my  hands  before  my  face,  with- 
out strength  to  speak.  I  thought  to  myself:  "  My 
God,  must  it  be  that  a  single  man  shall  hold  in  his 
hands  the  fate  of  us  all!  Must  it  be  that,  for  his 
pleasure,  for  the  gratification  of  his  pride,  every- 
thing shall  be  confounded,  overturned,  torn  asun- 
der! My  God,  shall  these  troubles  never  end? 
Hast  thou  no  pity  on  thy  poor  creatures? " 

I  did  not  raise  my  eyes,  but  I  heard  the  lamenta- 
tions which  rent  my  heart,  and  which  lasted  till  the 
moment  when  Baruch,  perceiving  that  Zeffen  was 
quite  exhausted,  ran  out,  exclaiming:  "  It  must  be! 
It  must  be!  Adieu,  Zeffen!  Adieu,  my  children  1 
Adieu,  all! " 


no  THE   BLOCKADE 

No  one  followed  him. 

We  heard  the  carriage  roll  away,  and  then  was 
the  great  sorrow — that  sorrow  of  which  it  is  written : 

"  By  the  rivers  of  Babylon,  there  we  sat  down; 
yea,  we  wept  when  we  remembered  Zion. 

"  "We  hanged  our  harps  upon  the  willows. 

"  For  there  they  that  carried  us  away  captive, 
required  of  us  a  song,  saying:  '  Sing  us  one  of  the 
songs  of  Zion! ' 

"  How  shall  we  sing  the  Lord's  song  in  a  strange 
land? " 


AN    ENGAGEMENT    WITH    THE    COSSACKS 

BUT  that  day  I  was  to  have  the  greatest  fright  of 
all.  You  remember,  Fritz,  that  Sorle  had  told  me 
at  supper  the  night  before,  that  if  we  did  not  receive 
the  invoice,  our  spirits  of  wine  would  be  at  the  risk 
of  M.  Quataya  of  Pezenas,  and  that  we  need  feel  no 
anxiety  about  it. 

I  thought  so,  too,  for  it  seemed  to  me  right ;  and 
as  the  French  and  German  gates  were  closed  at 
three  o'clock,  and  nothing  more  could  enter  the 
city,  I  supposed  that  that  was  the  end  of  the  matter, 
and  felt  quite  relieved. 

"  It  is  a  pity,  Moses! "  I  said  to  myself,  as  I 
walked  up  and  down  the  room;  "  yes,  for  if  these 
spirits  had  been  sent  a  week  sooner,  we  should  have 
made  a  great  profit;  but  now,  at  least,  thou  art  re- 
lieved of  great  anxiety.  Be  content  with  thine  old 
trade.  Let  alone  for  the  future  such  harassing 
undertakings.  Don't  stake  thine  all  again  on  one 
throw,  and  let  this  be  a  lesson  to  thee !  " 

in 


H2  THE   BLOCKADE 

Such  thoughts  were  in  my  mind,  when,  about 
four  o'clock,  I  heard  some  one  coming  up  our  stairs. 
It  was  a  heavy  step,  as  of  a  man  trying  to  find  his 
way  in  the  dark. 

Zeffen  and  Sorle  were  in  the  kitchen,  preparing 
supper.  Women  always  have  something  to  talk 
.about  by  themselves,  for  nobody  else  to  hear.  So 
I  listened,  and  then  opened  the  door. 

"Who  is  there?  "I  asked. 

"  Does  not  Mr.  Moses,  the  wine-merchant,  live 
here? "  asked  the  man  in  a  blouse  and  broad- 
brimmed  felt  hat,  with  his  whip  on  his  shoulder — 
a  wagoner's  figure,  in  short.  I  turned  pale  as  I 
heard  him,  and  replied :  "  Yes,  my  name  is  Moses. 
What  do  you  want?  " 

He  came  in,  and  took  out  a  large  leather  portfolio 
from  under  his  blouse.  I  trembled  as  I  looked 
on. 

"  There !  "  said  he,  giving  me  two  papers,  "  my 
invoice  and  my  bill  of  lading!  Are  not  the  twelve 
pipes  of  three-six  from  Pezenas  for  you?  " 

"  Yes,  where  are  they?  " 

"  On  the  Mittelbronn  hill,  twenty  minutes  from 
here,"  he  quietly  answered.  "  Some  Cossacks 
stopped  my  wagons,  and  I  had  to  take  off  the  horses. 
I  hurried  into  the  city  by  a  postern  under  the 
bridge." 


THE   BLOCKADE  113 

My  legs  failed  me  as  lie  spoke.  I  sank  into  my 
arm-chair,  unable  to  speak  a  word. 

"  You  will  pay  me  the  portage,"  said  the  man, 
"  and  give  me  a  receipt  for  the  delivery." 

"  Sorle!  Sorle!  "  I  cried  in  a  despairing  voice. 
And  she  and  Zeffen  ran  to  me.  The  wagoner  ex- 
plained it  all  to  them.  As  for  me,  I  heard  nothing. 
I  had  strength  only  to  exclaim :  "  I^ow  all  is  lost ! 
IsTow  I  must  pay  without  receiving  the  goods." 

"  We  are  willing  to  pay,  sir,"  said  my  wife,  "  but 
the  letter  states  that  the  twelve  pipes  shall  be  de- 
livered in  the  city." 

The  wagoner  said :  "  I  have  just  come  from  the 
justice  of  the  peace,  as  I  wanted  to  find  out  before 
coming  to  you  what  I  had  a  right  to  claim;  he  told 
me  that  you  ought  to  pay  for  everything,  even  my 
horses  and  carriages,  do  you  understand?  I  un- 
harnessed my  horses,  and  escaped,  myself,  which  is 
so  much  the  less  on  your  account.  Will  you  settle? 
Yes  or  no? " 

We  were  almost  dead  with  fright  when  the  ser- 
geant came  in.  He  had  heard  loud  words,  and 
asked:  "What  is  it,  Father  Moses?  What  is  it 
about?  What  does  this  man  want?  " 

Sorle,  who  never  lost  her  presence  of  mind,  told 
him  the  whole  story,  shortly  and  clearly;  he  com- 
prehended it  at  once. 
8 


114  THE   BLOCKADE 

"  Twelve  pipes  of  three-six,  that  makes  twenty- 
four  pipes  of  cognac.  What  luck  for  the  garrison! 
what  luck!  " 

"  Yes,"  said  I,  "  but  it  cannot  come  in;  the  city 
gates  are  shut,  and  the  wagons  are  surrounded  by 
Cossacks." 

"  Cannot  come  in !  "  cried  the  sergeant,  raising 
his  shoulders.  "  Go  along!  Do  you  take  the  gov- 
ernor for  a  fool  ?  Is  he  going  to  refuse  twenty-four 
pipes  of  good  brandy,  when  the  garrison  needs  it? 
Is  he  going  to  leave  this  windfall  to  the  Cossacks? 
Madame  Sorle,  pay  the  portage  at  once;  and  you, 
Father  Moses,  put  on  your  cap  and  follow  me  to  the 
governor's,  with  the  letter  in  your  pocket.  Come 
along !  Don't  lose  a  minute !  If  the  Cossacks  have 
time  to  put  their  noses  in  your  casks,  you  will  find 
a  famous  deficit,  I  warrant  you !  " 

When  I  heard  that  I  exclaimed :  "  Sergeant,  you 
have  saved  my  life!  "  And  I  hastened  to  get  my 
cap. 

"  Shall  I  pay  the  portage?  "  asked  Sorle. 

"  Yes!  pay!  "  I  answered  as  I  went  down,  for  it 
was  plain  that  the  wagoner  could  compel  us.  I 
went  down  with  an  anxious  heart. 

All  that  I  remember  after  this  is  that  the  sergeant 
walked  before  me  in  the  snow,  that  he  said  a  few 
words  to  the  sapper  on  orderly  duty  at  the  govern- 


THE   BLOCKADE  115 

or's  house,  and  that  we  went  up  the  grand  stair- 
way with  the  marble  balustrade. 

Upstairs,  in  the  gallery  with  the  balustrade 
around  it,  he  said  to  me :  "  Be  easy,  Father  Moses ! 
Take  out  your  letter,  and  let  me  do  the  talking." 

He  knocked  softly  at  a  door  as  he  spoke : 

Somebody  said:  "Come  in!" 

We  went  in. 

Colonel  Moulin,  a  fat  man  in  a  dressing-gown  and 
little  silk  cap,  was  smoking  his  pipe  in  front  of  a 
good  fire.  He  was  very  red,  and  had  a  caraffe  of 
rum  and  a  glass  at  its  side  on  the  marble  mantel- 
piece, where  were  also  a  clock  and  vases  of  flowers. 

"  What  is  it?  "  he  asked,  turning  round. 

"  Colonel,  this  is  what  is  the  matter,"  replied  the 
sergeant :  "  twelve  pipes  of  spirits  of  wine  have 
been  stopped  on  the  Mittelbronn  hill,  and  are  sur- 
rounded by  Cossacks." 

"  Cossacks !  "  exclaimed  the  governor.  "  Have 
they  broken  through  our  lines  already?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  the  sergeant,  "  a  sudden  attack  of 
Cossacks!  They  have  possession  of  the  twelve  pipes 
of  three-six  which  this  patriot  brought  from  Pe- 
zenas  to  sustain  the  garrison." 

"  Some  bandits,"  said  the  governor — "  thieves!  " 

"  Here  is  the  letter,"  said  the  sergeant,  taking  it 
from  my  hand. 


Ii6  THE   BLOCKADE 

The  colonel  cast  his  eyes  over  it,  and  said  hastily: 

"  Sergeant,  go  and  take  twenty-five  men  of  your 
company.  Go  on  the  run,  free  the  wagons,  and  put 
in  requisition  horses  from  the  village  to  bring  them 
into  the  city." 

And,  as  we  were  going:  "  Wait!  "  said  he;  and 
he  went  to  his  bureau  and  wrote  four  words;  "  here 
is  the  order." 

When  we  were  once  on  the  stairway,  the  sergeant 
said :  "  Father  Moses,  run  to  the  cooper's ;  we  may 
perhaps  need  him  and  his  boys.  I  know  the  Cos- 
sacks; their  first  thought  will  be  to  unload  the 
casks  so  as  to  be  more  sure  of  keeping  them.  Have 
them  bring  ropes  and  ladders;  and  I  will  go  to  the 
Barracks  and  get  my  men  together." 

Then  I  ran  home  like  a  hart,  for  I  was  enraged  at 
the  Cossacks.  I  went  in  to  get  my  musket  and 
cartridge-box.  I  could  have  fought  an  army:  I 
could  not  see  straight. 

"What  is  it?  Where  are  you  going?"  asked 
Sorle  and  Zeffen. 

"  You  will  know  by  and  by,"  I  replied. 

I  went  to  Schweyer's.  He  had  two  large  saddle- 
pistols,  which  he  put  quickly  into  his  apron-belt 
with  the  axe ;  his  two  boys,  Nickel  and  Frantz,  took 
the  ladder  and  ropes,  and  we  ran  to  the  French 
gate. 


THE   BLOCKADE  117 

The  sergeant  was  not  yet  there;  but  two  minutes 
after  he  came  running  down  the  street  by  the  ram- 
part with  thirty  veterans  in  file,  their  muskets  on 
their  shoulders. 

The  officer  guarding  the  postern  had  only  to  see 
the  order  to  let  us  go  out,  and  a  few  minutes  after 
we  were  in  the  trenches  behind  the  hospital,  where 
the  sergeant  ranged  his  men. 

"It  is  cognac!"  he  told  them;  "twenty-four 
pipes  of  cognac!  So,  comrades,  attention!  The 
garrison  is  without  brandy;  those  who  do  not  like 
brandy  have  only  to  fall  to  the  rear." 

But  they  all  wanted  to  be  in  front,  and  laughed  in 
anticipation. 

We  went  up  the  stairway,  and  were  ranged  in 
order  in  the  covered  ways.  It  might  have  been 
five  o'clock.  Looking  from  the  top  of  the  glacis  we 
could  see  the  broad  meadow  of  Eichmatt,  and  above 
it  the  hills  of  Mittelbronn  covered  with  snow.  The 
sky  was  full  of  clouds,  and  night  was  coming  on. 
It  was  very  cold. 

"Forward!  "  said  the  sergeant. 

And  we  gained  the  highway.  The  veterans  ran, 
in  two  files,  at  the  right  and  left,  their  backs 
rounded,  and  their  muskets  in  their  shoulder-belts; 
the  snow  was  up  to  their  knees. 

Schweyer,  his  two  boys,  and  I  walked  behind. 


Ii8  THE   BLOCKADE 

At  the  end  of  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  the  veterans, 
who  ran  all  the  way,  had  left  us  far  behind;  we 
heard  for  some  time  their  cartridge-boxes  rattling, 
but  soon  this  sound  was  lost  in  the  distance,  and 
then  we  heard  the  dog  of  the  Trois-Maisons  barking 
in  his  chain. 

The  deep  silence  of  the  night  gave  me  a  chance 
to  think.  If  it  had  not  been  lor  the  thought  of  my 
spirits  of  wine,  I  would  have  gone  straight  back  to 
Phalsburg,  but  fortunately  that  thought  prevailed, 
and  I  said: 

"  Make  haste,  Schweyer,  make  haste !  " 

"  Make  haste !  "  he  exclaimed  angrily,  "  you  can 
make  haste  to  get  back  your  spirits  of  wine,  but 
what  do  we  care  for  it?  Is  the  highway  the  place 
for  us?  Are  we  bandits  that  we  should  risk  our 
lives?" 

I  understood  at  once  that  he  wanted  to  escape, 
and  was  enraged. 

"  Take  care,  Schweyer,"  said  I,  "  take  care !  If 
you  and  your  boys  go  back,  people  will  say  that 
you  have  been  a  traitor  to  the  city  brandy,  and 
that  is  worse  than  being  a  traitor  to  the  flag,  espe- 
cially in  a  cooper." 

"  The  devil  take  thee !  "  said  he,  "  we  ought  never 
to  have  come." 

However,  he  kept  on  ascending  the  hill  with 


THE   BLOCKADE  119 

me.  Kickel  and  Frantz  followed  us  without 
hurrying. 

When  we  reached  the  plateau  we  saw  lights  in 
the  village.  All  was  still  and  seemed  quiet,  al- 
though there  was  a  great  crowd  around  the  two  first 
houses. 

The  door  of  the  Bunch  of  Grapes  was  wide  open, 
and  its  kitchen  fire  shone  through  the  passage  to 
the  street  where  my  two  wagons  stood. 

This  crowd  came  from  the  Cossacks  who  were 
carousing  at  Heitz's  house,  after  tying  their  horses 
under  the  shed.  They  had  made  Mother  Heitz  cook 
them  a  good  hot  soup,  and  we  saw  them  plainly, 
two  or  three  hundred  paces  distant,  go  up  and  down 
the  outside  steps,  with  jugs  and  bottles  which  they 
passed  from  one  to  another.  The  thought  came  to 
me  that  they  were  drinking  my  spirits  of  wine,  for 
a  lantern  hung  behind  the  first  wagon,  and  the  ras- 
cals were  all  going  from  it  with  their  elbows  raised. 
I  was  so  furious  that,  regardless  of  danger,  I  began 
to  run  to  put  a  stop  to  the  pillage. 

Fortunately  the  veterans  were  in  advance  of  me, 
or  I  should  have  been  murdered  by  the  Cossacks; 
I  had  not  gone  half  way  when  our  whole  troop 
sprang  from  the  fences  of  the  highway,  and  ran  like 
a  pack  of  wolves,  crying  out,  "  To  the  bayonet!  " 

You  never  saw  such  confusion,  Fritz.    In  a  sec- 


120  THE   BLOCKADE 

ond  the  Cossacks  were  on  their  horses,  and  the  vet- 
erans in  the  midst  of  them;  the  front  of  the  inn  with 
its  trellis,  its  pigeon-house,  and  its  little  fenced  gar- 
den, was  lighted  up  by  the  firing  of  muskets  and 
pistols.  Heitz's  two  daughters  stood  at  the  win- 
dows, with  their  arms  lifted  and  screamed  so  that 
they  could  be  heard  all  over  Mittelbronn. 

Every  minute,  in  the  midst  of  the  confusion, 
something  fell  upon  the  road,  and  then  the  horses 
started  and  ran  through  the  fields  like  deer,  with 
their  heads  run  out,  and  their  manes  and  tails  fly- 
ing. The  villagers  ran;  Father  Heitz  slipped  into 
the  barn,  and  climbed  up  the  ladder,  and  I  came  up 
breathless,  as  if  out  of  my  senses. 

I  had  not  gone  more  than  fifteen  steps  when  a 
Cossack,  who  was  running  away  at  full  speed, 
turned  about  furiously  close  to  me,  with  his  lance 
in  the  air,  and  called  out,  "  Hurra !  " 

I  had  only  time  to  stoop,  and  I  felt  the  wind  from 
the  lance  as  it  passed  along  my  body. 

I  never  felt  so  in  my  life,  Fritz;  I  felt  the  chill 
of  death,  that  trembling  of  the  flesh,  of  which  the 
prophet  spoke :  "  Fear  came  upon  me  and  trem- 
bling; the  hair  of  my  flesh  stood  up." 

But  what  shows  the  spirit  of  wisdom  and  pru- 
dence which  the  Lord  puts  into  his  creatures,  when 
he  means  to  spare  them  for  a  good  old  age,  is  that 


I   SHUDDERED   IX    MY    VERY    SOUL   AND   MY    HAIR   BRISTLED. 


THE   BLOCKADE  121 

immediately  afterward,  in  spite  of  my  trembling 
knees,  I  went  and  sat  under  the  first  wagon,  where 
the  blows  of  the  lances  could  not  reach  me;  and 
there  I  saw  the  veterans  finish  the  extermination  of 
the  rascals,  who  had  retreated  into  the  court,  and 
not  one  of  whom  escaped. 

Five  or  six  were  in  a  heap  before  the  door,  and 
three  others  were  stretched  upon  the  highway. 

This  did  not  take  more  than  ten  minutes;  then 
all  was  dark  again,  and  I  heard  the  sergeant  call: 
"  Cease  firing!  " 

Heitz,  who  had  come  down  from  his  hay-loft,  had 
just  lighted  a  lantern ;  the  sergeant  seeing  me  under 
the  wagon,  called  out :  "  Are  you  wounded,  Father 
Moses? " 

"  No,"  I  replied,  "  but  a  Cossack  tried  to  thrust 
his  lance  into  me,  and  I  got  into  a  safe  place." 

He  laughed  aloud,  and  gave  me  his  hand  to  help 
me  to  rise. 

"  Father  Moses,"  said  he,  "  I  was  frightened 
about  you.  Wipe  your  back;  people  might  think 
you  were  not  brave." 

I  laughed  too,  and  thought :  "  People  may  think 
what  they  please!  The  great  thing  is  to  live  in 
good  health  as  long  as  possible." 

We  had  only  one  wounded,  Corporal  Duhem,  an 
old  man,  who  bandaged  his  own  leg,  and  tried  to 


122  THE   BLOCKADE 

walk.  He  had  had  a  blow  from  a  lance  in  the  right 
calf.  He  was  placed  on  the  first  wagon,  and  Lehnel, 
Heitz's  granddaughter,  came  and  gave  him  a  drop 
of  cherry-brandy,  which  at  once  restored  his 
strength  and  even  his  good  spirits. 

"  It  is  the  fifteenth,"  he  exclaimed.  "  I  am  in 
for  a  week  at  the  hospital;  but  leave  me  the  bottle 
for  the  compresses." 

*  I  was  delighted  to  see  my  twelve  pipes  on  the 
wagons,  for  Schweyer  and  his  two  boys  had  run 
away,  and  without  their  help  we  could  hardly  have 
reloaded. 

I  tapped  at  once  at  the  bung-hole  of  the  hindmost 
cask  to  find  out  how  much  was  missing.  These 
scamps  of  Cossacks  had  already  drunk  nearly  half 
a  measure  of  spirits;  Father  Heitz  told  me  that 
some  of  them  scarcely  added  a  drop  of  water.  Such 
creatures  must  have  throats  of  tin;  the  oldest  to- 
pers among  us  could  not  bear  a  glass  of  three-six 
without  being  upset. 

At  last  all  was  ready  and  we  had  only  to  return 
to  the  city.  When  I  think  of  it,  it  all  seems  before 
me  now :  Heitz's  large  dapple-gray  horses  going  out 
of  the  stable  one  by  one;  the  sergeant  standing  by 
the  dark  door  with  his  lantern  in  his  hand,  and  call- 
ing out,  "  Come,  hurry  up!  The  rascals  may  come 


THE   BLOCKADE  123 

back!  "  On  the  road  in  front  of  the  inn,  the  vet- 
erans surrounded  the  wagons;  farther  on  the  right 
some  peasants,  who  had  hastened  to  the  scene  with 
pitchforks  and  mattocks,  were  looking  at  the  dead 
Cossacks,  and  myself,  standing  on  the  stairs  above, 
singing  praises  to  God  in  my  heart  as  I  thought 
how  glad  Sorle  and  Zeffen  and  little  Safel  would  be 
to  see  me  come  back  with  our  goods. 

And  then  when  all  is  ready,  when  the  little  bells 
jingle,  when  the  whip  snaps,  and  we  start  on  the 
way — what  delight ! 

Ah  Fritz!  everything  looks  bright  after  thirty 
years;  we  forget  fears,  anxieties,  and  fatigues;  but 
the  memory  of  good  men  and  happy  hours  remains 
with  us  forever! 

The  veterans,  on  both  sides  of  the,  wagons,  with 
their  muskets  under  their  arms,  escorted  my  twelve 
pipes  as  if  they  were  the  tabernacle ;  Heitz  led  the 
horses,  and  the  sergeant  and  I  walked  behind. 

"Well,  Father  Moses!"  said  he  laughing,  "it 
has  all  gone  off  well;  are  you  satisfied?  " 

"  More  than  I  can  possibly  tell,  sergeant !  What 
would  have  been  my  ruin  will  make  the  fortune  pf 
my  family,  and  we  owe  it  all  to  you." 

"  Go  along,"  said  he,  "  you  are  joking." 

He  laughed,  but  I  felt  deeply;  to  have  been  in 


124  THE   BLOCKADE 

danger  of  losing  everything,  and  then  to  regain  it 
all  and  make  profit  out  of  it — it  makes  one  feel 
deeply. 

I  exclaimed  inwardly :  "  I  will  praise  thee,  O 
Lord,  among  the  people;  and  I  will  sing  praises  unto 
thee  among  the  nations. 

"  For  thy  mercy  is  great  above  the  heavens,  and 
thy  truth  reacheth  unto  the  cloucU." 


XI 

FATHER  MOSES  RETURNS  IN  TRIUMPH 

Now  I  must  tell  you  about  our  return  to  Phals- 
burg. 

You  may  suppose  that  my  wife  and  children,  after 
seeing  me  take  my  gun  and  go  away,  were  in  a  state 
of  great  anxiety.  About  five  o'clock  Sorle  went  out 
with  Zeffen  to  try  to  learn  what  was  going  on,  and 
only  then  they  heard  that  I  had  started  for  Mittel- 
bronn  with  a  detachment  of  veterans. 

Imagine  their  terror ! 

The  rumor  of  these  extraordinary  proceedings 
had  spread  through  the  city,  and  quantities  of  peo- 
ple were  on  the  bastion  of  the  artillery  barracks, 
looking  on  from  the  distance.  Burguet  was  there, 
with  the  mayor,  and  other  persons  of  distinction, 
and  a  number  of  women  and  children,  all  trying  to 
see  through  the  darkness.  Some  insisted  that  Moses 
marched  with  the  detachment,  but  nobody  would 
believe  it,  and  Burguet  exclaimed:  "  It  is  not  pos- 

12$ 


I26  THE   BLOCKADE 

sible  that  a  sensible  man  like  Moses  would  go  and 
risk  his  life  in  fighting  Cossacks — no,  it  is  not  pos- 
sible! " 

If  I  had  been  in  his  place  I  should  have  said  the 
same  of  him.  But  what  can  you  do,  Fritz?  The 
most  prudent  of  men  become  blind  when  their  prop- 
erty is  at  stake ;  blind,  I  say,  and  terrible,  for  they 
lose  sight  of  danger. 

This  crowd  was  waiting,  as  I  said,  and  soon  Zeffen 
and  Sorle  came,  as  pale  as  death,  with  their  large 
shawls  over  their  heads.  They  went  up  the  ram- 
part and  stood  there,  with  their  feet  in  the  snow,  too 
much  frightened  to  speak. 

I  learned  these  things  afterward. 

When  Zeffen  and  her  mother  went  up  on  the 
bastion,  it  was,  perhaps,  half -past  five;  there  was  not 
a  star  to  be  seen.  Just  at  that  time,  Schweyer  and 
his  boys  ran  away,  and  five  minutes  later  the  skir- 
mish began. 

Burguet  told  me  afterward  that,  notwithstanding 
the  darkness  and  the  distance,  they  saw  the  flash  of 
the  muskets  around  the  inn  as  plainly  as  if  they  were 
a  hundred  paces  off,  and  everybody  was  still  and 
listened  to  hear  the  shots,  which  were  repeated  by 
the  echoes  of  the  Bois-de-Chenes  and  Lutzelburg. 

When  they  ceased  Sorle  descended  from  the  slope 
leaning  on  Zeffen's  arm,  for  she  could  not  support 


THE   BLOCKADE  127 

herself.  Burguet  helped  them  to  reach  the  street, 
and  took  them  into  old  Frise's  house  on  the  corner, 
where  they  found  him  warming  himself  gloomily 
by  his  hearth. 

"  My  last  day  has  come !  "  said  Sorle.  Zeffen 
wept  bitterly. 

I  have  often  reproached  myself  for  having  caused 
this  sorrow,  but  who  can  answer  for  his  own  wis- 
dom ?  Has  not  the  wise  man  himself  said :  "  I 
turned  myself  to  behold  wisdom,  and  madness,  and 
folly;  and  I  saw  that  wisdom  excelleth  folly;  and  I 
myself  perceived  that  one  event  happeneth  to  the 
wise  man  and  the  fool.  Wherefore,  I  said  in  my 
heart,  that  wisdom  also  is  vanity." 

Burguet  was  going  out  from  Father  Frise's  when 
Schweyer  and  his  sons  came  up  the  postern  stairs, 
crying  out  that  we  were  surrounded  by  Cossacks  and 
lost.  Fortunately  my  wife  and  daughter  could  not 
hear  them,  and  the  mayor  soon  came  along  and  or- 
dered them  to  stop  talking  and  go  home  quickly,  if 
they  did  not  want  to  be  sent  to  prison. 

They  obeyed,  but  that  did  not  prevent  people 
from  believing  what  they  said,  especially  as  it  was 
all  dark  again  in  the  direction  of  Mittelbronn. 

The  crowd  came  down  from  the  ramparts  and 
filled  the  street;  many  of  them  went  to  their  homes 
thinking  they  should  never  see  us  again,  when,  just 


128  THE   BLOCKADE 

as  the  clock  struck  seven,  the  sentinel  of  the  out- 
works  called  out,  "  Who  goes  there?  " 

We  had  reached  the  gate. 

The  crowd  was  soon  on  the  ramparts  again.  The 
squad  in  front  of  the  sergeant  on  duty  flew  to  arms; 
they  had  just  recognized  us. 

We  heard  the  murmur,  without  knowing  what  it 
was.  So,  when,  after  a  reconnoissance,  the  gates 
were  slowly  opened  to  us,  and  the  two  bridges  low- 
ered for  us  to  pass,  what  was  our  surprise  at  hearing 
the  shouts:  "Hurrah  for  Father  Moses!  Hurrah 
for  the  spirits  of  wine !  " 

The  tears  came  to  my  eyes.  And  my  wagons 
rolling  heavily  under  the  gates,  the  soldiers  pre- 
sented arms  to  us,  the  great  crowd  surrounding  us, 
shouting:  "  Moses!  Hey,  Moses!  are  you  all  right? 
you  have  not  been  killed  ?  "  the  shouts  of  laughter, 
the  people  seizing  my  arm  to  hear  me  tell  about  the 
fight, — all  these  things  were  very  pleasant. 

Everybody  wanted  to  talk  with  me,  even  the 
mayor,  and  I  had  not  time  to  answer  them. 

But  all  this  was  nothing  compared  with  the  joy  I 
felt  at  seeing  Sorle,  Zeffen,  and  little  Safel  run  from 
Father  Frise's  and  throw  themselves  all  at  once  into 
my  arms,  exclaiming:  "  He  is  safe!  he  is  safe!  " 

Ah,  Fritz!  what  are  honors  by  the  side  of  such 
love?  What  is  all  the  glory  of  the  world  compared 


THE   BLOCKADE 


129 


with  the  joy  of  seeing  our  beloved  ones?  The  oth- 
ers might  have  cried  out,  "  Hurrah  for  Moses!  "  a 
hundred  years,  and  I  would  not  even  have  turned 
my  head;  but  I  was  terribly  moved  by  the  sight  of 
my  family. 

I  gave  Safel  my  gun,  and  while  the  wagons,  es- 
corted by  the  veterans,  went  on  toward  the  little 
market,  I  led  Zeffen  and  Sorle  through  the  crowd  to 
old  Frise's,  and  there,  when  we  were  alone,  we  be- 
gan to  hug  each  other  again. 

"Without,  the  shouts  of  joy  were  redoubled;  you 
would  have  thought  that  the  spirits  of  wine  be- 
longed to  the  whole  city.  But  within  the  room,  my 
wife  and  daughter  burst  into  tears,  and  I  confessed 
my  imprudence. 

So,  instead  of  telling  them  of  the  dangers  I  had 
experienced,  I  told  them  that  the  Cossacks  ran  away 
as  soon  as  they  saw  us,  and  that  we  had  only  to  put 
horses  to  the  wagons  before  starting. 

A  quarter  of  an  hour  afterward,  when  the  cries 
and  tumult  had  ceased,  I  went  out,  with  Zeffen  and 
Sorle  on  my  arms,  and  little  Safel  in  front,  with  my 
gun  on  his  shoulder,  and  in  this  way  we  went  home, 
to  see  to  the  unlading  of  the  brandy. 

I  wanted  to  put  everything  in  order  before  morn- 
ing, so  as  to  begin  to  sell  at  double  price  as  soon  as 
possible. 


I3o  THE   BLOCKADE 

"When  a  man  runs  such  risks  he  ought  to  make 
something  by  it;  for  if  he  should  sell  at  cost  price,  as 
some  persons  wish,  nobody  would  be  willing  to  run 
any  risk  for  the  sake  of  others;  and  if  it  should  come 
to  pass  that  a  man  should  sacrifice  himself  for  other 
people,  he  would  be  thought  a  blockhead;  we  have 
seen  it  a  hundred  times,  and  it  will  always  be  so. 

Thank  God!  such  ideas  never  entered  into  my 
head !  I  have  always  thought  that  the  true  idea  of 
trade  was  to  make  as  much  profit  as  we  can,  hon- 
estly and  lawfully. 

That  is  according  to  justice  and  good  sense. 

As  we  turned  at  the  corner  of  the  market,  our 
two  wagons  were  already  unharnessed  before  our 
house.  Heitz  was  running  back  with  his  horses,  so 
as  to  take  advantage  of  the  open  gates,  and  the  vet- 
erans, with  their  arms  at  will,  were  going  up  the 
street  toward  the  infantry  quarters. 

It  might  have  been  eight  o'clock.  Zeffen  and 
Sorle"  went  to  bed,  and  I  sent  Safel  for  Gros  the 
cooper,  to  come  and  unload  the  casks.  Quantities 
of  people  came  and  offered  to  help  us.  Gros  came 
soon  with  his  boys,  and  the  work  began. 

It  is  very  pleasant,  Fritz,  to  see  great  tuns  going 
into  your  cellar,  and  to  say  to  yourself,  "  These 
splendid  tuns  are  mine:  it  is  spirits  which  cost  me 
twenty  sous  the  quart,  and  which  I  am  going  to  sell 


THE   BLOCKADE  131 

for  three  francs !  "  This  shows  the  beauty  of  trade ; 
but  everybody  can  imagine  the  pleasure  for  himself 
— there  is  no  use  in  speaking  of  it. 

About  midnight  my  twelve  pipes  were  down  on 
the  stands,  and  there  was  nothing  left  to  do  but  to 
broach  them. 

While  the  crowd  was  dispersing,  I  engaged  Gros 
to  come  in  the  morning  to  help  me  mix  the  spirits 
with  water,  and  we  went  up,  well  pleased  with  our 
day's  work.  We  closed  the  double  oak  door,  and  I 
fastened  the  padlock  and  went  to  bed. 

What  a  pleasure  it  is  to  own  something  and  feel 
that  it  is  all  safe! 

This  is  how  my  twelve  pipes  were  saved. 

You  see  now,  Fritz,  what  anxieties  and  fears  we 
had  at  that  time.  Kobody  wa  sure  of  anything; 
for  you  must  not  suppose  that  I  was  the  only  one 
living  like  a  bird  on  the  branch;  there  were  hun- 
dreds of  others  who  were  not  able  to  close  their  eyes. 
You  should  have  seen  how  the  citizens  looked  every 
morning,  when  they  heard  that  the  Austrians  and 
Russians  occupied  Alsace,  that  the  Prussians  were 
marching  upon  Sarrebruck,  or  when  an  order  was 
published  for  domiciliary  visits,  or  for  days'  labor  to 
wall  up  the  posterns  and  orillons  of  the  place,  or  to 
form  companies  of  firemen  to  remove  at  once  all  in- 
flammable matter,  or  to  report  to  the  governor  the 


132  THE   BLOCKADE 

situation  of  the  city  treasury,  and  the  list  of  the 
principal  persons  subject  to  taxes  for  the  supply  of 
shoes,  caps,  bed-linen,  and  so  forth. 

You  should  have  seen  how  people  looked  at  each 
other. 

In  war  times  civil  life  is  nothing,  and  they  will 
take  from  you  your  last  shirt,  giving  you  the  govern- 
or's receipt  for  it.  The  first  men  of  the  land  are 
zeros  when  the  governor  has  spoken.  This  is  why 
I  have  often  thought  that  everybody  who  wishes 
for  war,  or  at  least  wants  to  be  a  soldier,  is  either 
demented  or  half  ruined,  and  hopes  to  better  him- 
self by  the  ruin  of  everybody  else.  It  must  be  so. 

But  notwithstanding  all  these  troubles,  I  could 
not  lose  time,  and  I  spent  all  the  next  day  in  mixing 
my  spirits.  I  took  off  my  cloak,  and  drew  out  with 
great  gusto.  Gros  and  his  boys  brought  jugs,  and 
emptied  them  in  the  casks  which  I  had  bought  be- 
forehand, so  that  by  evening  these  casks  were  brim- 
ful of  good  white  brandy,  eighteen  degrees. 

I  had  caramel  prepared,  also,  to  give  the  brandy 
a  good  color  of  old  cognac,  and  when  I  turned  the 
faucet,  and  raised  the  glass  before  the  candle,  and 
saw  that  it  was  exactly  the  right  tint,  I  was  in  ecs- 
tasies, and  exclaimed :  "  Give  strong  drink  unto  him 
that  is  ready  to  perish,  and  wine  unto  those  that  be 


THE   BLOCKADE  i:4 

of  heavy  hearts !  Let  him  drink  and  remember  his 
misery  no  more." 

Father  Gros,  standing  at  my  side  on  his  great  flat 
feet,  smiled  quietly,  and  his  boys  looked  well 
pleased. 

I  filled  the  glass  for  them;  they  passed  it  to  each 
other  and  were  delighted  with  it. 

About  five  o'clock  we  went  upstairs.  Safel,  on 
the  same  day,  had  brought  three  workmen,  and  had 
them  remove  our  old  iron  into  the  court  under  the 
shed.  The  old  rickety  storehouse  was  cleaned. 
Desmarets,  the  joiner,  put  up  some  shelves  behind 
the  door  in  the  arch,  for  holding  bottles,  and  glasses, 
and  tin  measures,  when  the  time  for  selling  should 
come,  and  his  son  put  together  the  planks  of  the 
counter.  This  was  all  done  at  once,  as  at  a  time  of 
great  pressure,  when  people  like  to  make  a  good  sum. 
of  money  quickly. 

I  looked  at  it  all  with  a  good  deal  of  satisfaction. 
Zeifen,  with  her  baby  in  her  arms,  and  Sorle,  had 
also  come  down.  I  showed  my  wife  the  place  be- 
hind the  counter,  and  said,  "  That  is  the  place  where 
you  are  to  sit,  with  your  feet  in  loose  slippers,  and  a 
warm  tippet  on  your  shoulders,  and  sell  our 
brandy." 

She  smiled  as  she  thought  of  it. 


I34  THE   BLOCKADE 

Our  neighbors,  Bailly  the  armorer,  Koffel  the  lit- 
tle weaver,  and  several  others,  came  and  looked  on 
without  speaking;  they  were  astonished  to  see  what 
quick  work  we  were  making. 

At  six  o'clock,  just  as  Desmarets  laid  aside  his 
hammer,  the  sergeant  arrived  in  great  glee,  on  his 
return  from  the  cantine. 

"Well,  Father  Moses!"  he  exclaimed,  "the 
work  goes  on!  But  there  is  still  something  want- 
ing." 

"  What  is  that,  sergeant?  " 

"Hi!  It  is  all  right,  only  you  must  put  a  screen 
up  above,  or  look  out  for  the  shells !  " 

I  saw  that  he  was  right,  and  we  were  all  well 
frightened,  except  the  neighbors,  who  laughed  to 
see  our  surprise. 

"  Yes,"  said  the  sergeant,  "  we  must  have  it." 

This  took  away  all  my  pleasure;  I  saw  that  our 
troubles  were  not  yet  at  an  end. 

Sorle,  Zeffen,  and  I  went  up,  while  Desmarets 
closed  the  door.  Supper  was  ready;  we  sat  down 
thoughtfully,  and  little  Saf el  brought  the  keys. 

The  noise  had  ceased  without;  now  and  then  a 
citizen  on  patrol  passed  by. 

The  sergeant  came  to  smoke  his  pipe  as  usual. 
He  explained  how  the  screens  were  made,  by  cross- 


THE   BLOCKADE  135 

ing  beams  in  the  form  of  a  sentry-box,  the  two  sides 
supported  against  the  gables,  but  while  he  main- 
tained that  it  would  hold  like  an  arch,  I  did  not 
think  it  strong  enough,  and  I  saw  by  Sorle's  face 
that  she  thought  as  I  did. 

"We  sat  there  talking  till  ten  o'clock,  and  then 
all  went  to  bed. 


xn 

THE    ENEMY    KEPULSED 

ABOUT  one  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  the  sixth  oi 
January,  the  day  of  the  feast  of  the  Kings,  the  en- 
emy arrived  on  the  hill  of  Saverne. 

It  was  terribly  cold,  our  windows  under  the  per- 
siennes were  white  with  frost.  I  woke  as  the  clock 
struck  one;  they  were  beating  the  call  at  the  infantry 
barracks. 

You  can  have  no  idea  how  it  sounded  in  the  si- 
lence of  the  night. 

"  Dost  thou  hear,  Moses?  "  whispered  Sorle. 

"  Yes,  I  hear,"  said  I,  almost  without  breathing. 

After  a  minute  some  windows  were  opened  in  our 
street,  and  we  knew  that  others  too  were  listening; 
then  we  heard  running,  and  suddenly  the  cry,  "  To 
arms !  to  arms !  " 

It  made  one's  hair  stand  on  end. 

I  had  just  risen,  and  was  lighting  a  lamp,  when 
we  heard  two  knocks  at  our  door. 

"  Come  in !  "  said  Sorle,  trembling. 

The   sergeant   opened   the    door.     He   was   in 
136 


THE   BLOCKADE  137 

marching  equipments,  with  his  gaiters  on  his  legs, 
his  large  gray  cap  turned  up  at  the  sides,  his  musket 
on  his  shoulder,  and  his  sabre  and  cartridge-box  on 
his  back. 

"  Father  Moses,"  said  he,  "  go  back  to  bed  and  be 
quiet :  it  is  the  battalion  call  at  the  barracks,  and  has 
nothing  to  do  with  you." 

And  we  saw  at  once  that  he  was  right,  for  the 
drums  did  not  come  up  the  street  two  by  two,  as 
when  the  National  Guard  was  called  in. 

"  Thank  you,  sergeant,"  I  said. 

"  Go  to  sleep!  "  said  he,  and  he  went  down  the 
stairs. 

The  door  of  the  alley  below  slammed  to.  Then 
the  children,  who  had  waked  up,  began  to  cry. 
Zeffen  came  in,  very  pale,  with  her  baby  in  her 
arms,  exclaiming,  "  Mercy!  "What  is  the  matter?  " 

"  It  is  nothing,  Zeffen,"  said  Sorle.  "  It  is  noth- 
ing, my  child :  they  are  beating  the  call  for  the  sol- 
diers." 

At  the  same  moment  the  battalion  came  down  the 
main  street.  We  heard  them  march  as  far  as  to  the 
Place  d'Armes,  and  beyond  it  toward  the  German 
gate. 

We  shut  the  windows,  Zeffen  went  back  to  her 
room,  and  I  lay  down  again. 

But  how  could  I  sleep  after  such  a  start?     My 


138  THE    BLOCKADE 

head  was  full  of  a  thousand  thoughts:  I  fancied  the 
arrival  of  the  Russians  on  the  hill  this  cold  night, 
and  our  soldiers  marching  to  meet  them,  or  manning 
the  ramparts.  I  thought  of  all  the  blindages  and 
block-houses,  and  batteries  inside  the  bastions,  and 
that  all  these  great  works  had  been  made  to  guard 
against  bombs  and  shells,  and  I  exclaimed  inwardly: 
"  Before  the  enemy  has  demolished  all  these  works, 
our  houses  will  be  crushed,  and  we  shall  be  exter- 
minated to  the  last  man." 

I  took  on  in  this  way  for  about  half  an  hour, 
thinking  of  all  the  calamities  which  threatened  us, 
when  I  heard  outside  the  city,  toward  Quatre- Vents, 
a  kind  of  heavy  rolling,  rising  and  falling  like  the 
murmur  of  running  water.  This  was  repeated 
every  second.  I  raised  myself  on  my  elbow  to  lis- 
ten, and  I  knew  that  it  was  a  fight  far  more  terrible 
than  that  at  Mittelbronn,  for  the  rolling  did  not 
stop,  but  seemed  rather  to  increase. 

"  How  they  are  fighting,  Sorle,  how  they  are 
fighting !  "  I  exclaimed,  as  I  pictured  to  myself  the 
fury  of  those  men  murdering  each  other  at  the  dead 
of  night,  not  knowing  what  they  were  doing. 
"  Listen!  Sorle,  listen!  If  that  does  not  make  one 
shudder!  " 

"  Yes,"  said  she.  "  I  hope  our  sergeant  will  not 
be  wounded;  I  hope  he  will  come  back  safe!  " 


THE   BLOCKADE  139 

"  May  the  Lord  watch  over  him !  "  I  replied, 
jumping  from  my  bed,  and  lighting  a  candle. 

I  could  not  control  myself.  I  dressed  myself  as 
quickly  as  if  I  were  going  to  run  away;  and  after- 
ward I  listened  to  that  terrible  rolling,  which  came 
nearer  or  died  away  with  every  gust  of  wind. 

When  once  dressed,  I  opened  a  window,  to  try  to 
see  something.  The  street  was  still  black;  but 
toward  the  ramparts,  above  the  dark  line  of  the  ar- 
senal bastions,  was  stretched  a  line  of  red. 

The  smoke  of  powder  is  red  on  account  of  the 
musket  shots  which  light  it  up.  It  looked  like  a 
great  fire.  All  the  windows  in  the  street  were 
open :  nothing  could  be  seen,  but  I  heard  our  neigh- 
bor the  armorer  say  to  his  wife,  "  It  is  growing  warm 
down  there!  It  is  the  beginning  of  the  dance,  An- 
nette ;  but  they  have  not  got  the  big  drum  yet ;  that 
will  come,  by  and  by !  " 

The  woman  did  not  answer,  and  I  thought,  "  Is  it 
possible  to  jest  about  such  things!  It  is  against 
nature." 

The  cold  was  so  severe  that  after  five  or  six  min- 
utes I  shut  the  window.  Sorle  got  up  and  made  a 
fire  in  the  stove. 

The  whole  city  was  in  commotion;  men  were 
shouting  and  dogs  barking.  Safel,  who  had  been 
wakened  by  all  these  noises,  went  to  dress  himself 


140 


THE    BLOCKADE 


in  the  warm  room.  I  looked  very  tenderly  on  this 
poor  little  one,  his  eyes  still  heavy  with  sleep;  and  as 
I  thought  that  we  were  to  be  fired  upon,  that  we 
must  hide  ourselves  in  cellars,  and  all  of  us  be  in 
danger  of  being  killed  for  matters  which  did  not 
concern  us,  and  about  which  nobody  had  asked  our 
opinion,  I  was  full  of  indignation.  But  what  dis- 
tressed me  most  was  to  hear  Zeffen  sob  and  say  that 
it  would  have  been  better  for  her  and  her  children 
to  stay  with  Baruch  at  Saverne  and  all  die  together. 

Then  the  words  of  the  prophet  came  to  me :  "  Is 
not  this  thy  fear,  thy  confidence,  thy  hope,  and  the 
uprightness  of  thy  ways? 

"  Remember,  I  pray  thee,  who  ever  perished 
being  innocent,  or  where  were  the  righteous  cut 
off. 

"  No,  they  that  plough  iniquity  and  sow  wicked- 
ness, reap  the  same. 

"  By  the  blast  of  God  they  perish,  and  by  the 
breath  of  his  nostrils  are  they  consumed. 

"  But  thee,  his  servant,  he  shall  redeem  from 
death. 

"  Thou  shalt  come  to  thy  grave  in  a  full  age,  like 
as  a  shock  of  corn  cometh  in  his  season." 

In  this  way  I  strengthened  my  heart,  while  I 
heard  the  great  tumult  of  the  panic-stricken  crowd, 
running  and  trying  to  save  their  property. 


THE   BLOCKADE  141 

About  seven  o'clock  it  was  announced  that  the 
casemates  were  open,  and  that  everybody  might  take 
their  mattresses  there,  and  that  there  must  be  tubs 
full  of  water  in  every  house,  and  the  wells  left  open 
in  case  of  fire. 

Think,  Fritz,  what  ideas  these  orders  suggested. 

Some  of  our  neighbors,  Lisbeth  Dubourg,  Bevel 
Ruppert,  Camus's  daughters,  and  some  others,  came 
up  to  us  exclaiming,  "  We  are  all  lost !  " 

Their  husbands  had  gone  out,  right  and  left,  to 
see  what  they  could  see,  and  these  women  hung  on 
Zeffen  and  Sorle's  necks,  repeating  again  and  again, 
"  Oh,  dear!  oh,  dear!  what  misery!" 

I  could  have  wished  them  all  to  the  devil,  for  in- 
stead of  comforting  us  they  only  increased  our  fears; 
but  at  such  times  women  will  get  together  and  cry 
out  all  at  once;  you  can't  talk  reason  to  them;  they 
like  these  loud  cryings  and  groanings. 

Just  as  the  clock  struck  eight,  Bailly  the  armorer 
came  to  find  his  wife:  he  had  come  from  the  ram- 
parts. "  The  Russians,"  he  said,  "  have  come  down 
in  a  mass  from  Quatre- Vents  to  the  very  gate,  filling 
the  whole  plain — Cossacks,  Baskirs,  and  rabble! 
"Why  don't  they  fire  down  upon  them  from  the  ram- 
parts?  The  governor  is  betraying  us." 

"  Where  are  our  soldiers?  "  I  asked. 

"  Retreating!  "  exclaimed  he.     "  The  wounded 


I42  THE    BLOCKADE 

came  back  two  hours  ago,  and  our  men  stay  yonder, 
with  folded  arms." 

His  bony  face  shook  with  rage.  He  led  away  his 
wife;  then  others  came  crying  out,  "  The  enemy  has 
advanced  to  the  lower  part  of  the  gardens,  upon  the 
glacis."  I  was  astonished  at  these  things. 

The  women  had  gone  away  to  cry  somewhere  else, 
and  just  then  a  great  noise  of  wheels  was  heard  from 
the  direction  of  the  rampart.  I  looked  out  of  the 
window,  and  saw  a  wagon  from  the  arsenal,  some 
citizen  gunners;  old  Goulden,  Holender,  Jacob 
Cloutier,  and  Barrier  galloped  at  its  sides;  Captain 
Jovis  ran  in  front.  They  stopped  at  our  door. 

"Call  the  iron-merchant!"  cried  the  captain. 
"  Tell  him  to  come  down." 

Baker  Chanoine,  the  brigadier  of  the  second  bat- 
tery, came  up.  I  opened  the  door. 

"  What  do  you  want  of  me  ?  "  I  asked  in  the  stair- 
way. 

"  Come  down,  Moses,"  said  Chanoine.  And  I 
went  down. 

Captain  Jovis,  a  tall  old  man,  with  his  face  cov- 
ered with  sweat,  in  spite  of  the  cold,  said  to  me, 
"  You  are  Moses,  the  iron-merchant?  " 

"  Yes,  sir." 

"  Open  your  storehouse.  Your  iron  is  required 
for  the  defence  of  the  city." 


THE   BLOCKADE  143 

So  I  had  to  lead  all  these  people  into  my  court, 
under  the  shed.  The  captain  on  looking  round,  saw 
some  cast-iron  bars,  which  were  used  at  that  time  for 
closing  up  the  backs  of  fireplaces.  They  weighed 
from  thirty  to  forty  pounds  each,  and  I  sold  a  good 
many  in  the  vicinity  of  the  city.  There  was  no  lack 
of  old  nails,  rusty  bolts,  and  old  iron  of  all  sorts. 

"  This  is  what  we  want,"  said  he.  "  Break  up 
these  bars,  and  take  away  the  old  iron,  quick !  " 

The  others,  with  the  help  of  our  two  axes,  began 
at  once  to  break  up  everything.  Some  of  them, 
filled  a  basket  with  the  pieces  of  cast-iron,  and  ran 
with  it  to  the  wagon. 

The  captain  looked  at  his  watch,  and  said,  "  Make 
haste !  We  have  just  ten  minutes !  " 

I  thought  to  myself,  "  They  have  no  need  of 
credit;  they  take  what  they  please;  it  is  more  con- 
venient." 

All  my  bars  and  old  iron  were  broken  in  pieces — 
more  than  fifteen  hundred  pounds  of  iron. 

As  they  were  starting  to  run  to  the  ramparts, 
Chanoine  laughed,  and  said  to  me,  "  Capital  grape- 
shot,  Moses!  Thou  canst  get  ready  thy  pennies. 
"We'll  come  and  take  them  to-morrow." 

The  wagon  started  through  the  crowd  which  ran 
behind  it,  and  I  followed  too. 

As  we  came  nearer  the  ramparts  the  firing  became 


144  THE   BLOCKADE 

more  and  more  frequent.  As  we.  turned  from  the 
curate's  house  two  sentinels  stopped  everybody,  but 
they  let  me  pass  on  account  of  my  iron,  which  they 
were  going  to  fire. 

You  can  never  imagine  that  mass  of  people,  the 
noise  around  the  bastion,  the  smoke  which  covered 
it,  the  orders  of  the  infantry  officers  whom  we  heard 
going  up  the  glacis,  the  gunners,  the  lighted  match, 
caissons  with  the  piles  of  bullets  behind!  No,  in 
all  these  thirty  years  I  have  not  forgotten  those  men 
with  their  levers,  running  back  the  cannon  to  load 
them  to  their  mouths;  those  firings  in  file,  at  the 
bottom  of  the  ramparts;  those  volleys  of  balls  hissing 
in  the  air;  the  orders  of  the  gun-captains,  "  Load! 
Ram!  Prime! " 

What  crowds  upon  those  gun-carriages,  seven 
feet  high,  where  the  gunners  were  obliged  to  stand 
and  stretch  their  arms  to  fire  the  cannon!  And 
what  a  frightful  smoke ! 

Men  invent  such  machines  to  destroy  each  other, 
and  they  would  think  that  they  did  a  great  deal  if 
they  sacrificed  a  quarter  as  much  to  assist  their  fel- 
low-men, to  instruct  them  in  infancy,  and  to  give 
them  a  little  bread  in  their  old  age. 

Ah !  those  who  make  an  outcry  against  war,  and 
demand  a  different  state  of  things,  are  not  in  the 
wrong. 


THE   BLOCKADE  145 

1  was  in  the  corner,  at  the  left  of  the  bastion, 
where  the  stairs  go  down  to  the  postern  behind  the 
college,  among  three  or  four  willow  baskets  as  high 
as  chimneys,  and  filled  with  clay.  I  ought  to  have 
stayed  there  quietly,  and  made  use  of  the  right  mo- 
ment to  get  away,  but  the  thought  seized  me  that  I 
would  go  and  see  what  was  going  on  below  the  ram- 
parts, and  while  they  were  loading  the  cannon,  I 
climbed  to  the  level  of  the  glacis,  and  lay  down  flat 
between  two  enormous  baskets,  where  there  was 
scarcely  a  chance  that  balls  could  reach  me. 

If  hundreds  of  others  who  were  killed  in  the 
bastions  had  done  as  I  did,  how  many  of  them  might 
be  still  living,  respectable  fathers  of  families  in 
their  villages! 

Lying  in  this  place,  and  raising  my  nose,  I  could 
see  over  the  whole  plain.  I  saw  the  cordon  of  the 
rampart  below,  and  the  line  of  our  skirmishers  be- 
hind the  palankas,  on  the  other  side  of  the  moat; 
they  did  nothing  but  tear  off  their  cartridges,  prime, 
charge,  and  fire.  There  one  could  appreciate  the 
beauty  of  drilling;  there  were  only  two  companies 
of  them,  and  their  firing  by  file  kept  up  an  incessant 
roll. 

Farther  on,  directly  to  the  right,  stretched  the 
road  to  Quatre- Vents.     The  Ozillo  farm,  thfc  ceme- 
tery, the  horse-post-station,  and  George  Mouton's 
10 


146  THE   BLOCKADE 

farm  at  the  right;  the  inn  of  La  Roulette  and  the 
great  poplar-walk  at  the  left,  all  were  full  of  Cos- 
sacks, and  such-like  rascals,  who  were  galloping  into 
the  very  gardens,  to  reconnoitre  the  environs  of  the 
place.  This  is  what  I  suppose,  for  it  is  against 
nature  to  run  without  an  object,  and  to  risk  being 
struck  by  a  ball. 

These  people,  mounted  on  small  horses,  with 
large  gray  cloaks,  soft  boots,  fox-skin  caps,  like  those 
of  the  Baden  peasants,  long  beards,  lances  in  rest, 
great  pistols  in  their  belts,  came  whirling  on  like 
birds. 

They  had  not  been  fired  upon  as  yet,  because  they 
kept  themselves  scattered,  so  that  bullets  would  have 
no  effect ;  but  their  trumpets  sounded  the  rally  from 
La  Roulette,  and  they  began  to  collect  behind  the 
buildings  of  the  inn. 

About  thirty  of  our  veterans,  who  had  been  kept 
back  in  the  cemetery  lane,  were  making  a  slow  re- 
treat; they  made  a  few  paces,  at  the  same  time 
hastily  reloading,  then  turned,  shouldered,  fired, 
and  began  marching  again  among  the  hedges  and 
bushes,  which  there  had  not  been  time  to  cut  down 
in  this  locality. 

Our  sergeant  was  one  of  these ;  I  recognized  him 
at  once,  and  trembled  for  him. 

Every  time  these  veterans  gave  fire,  five  or  six 


THE    BLOCKADE  147 

Cossacks  came  on  like  the  wind,  with  their  lances 
lowered;  but  it  did  not  frighten  them:  they  leaned 
against  a  tree  and  levelled  their  bayonets.  Other 
veterans  came  up,  and  then  some  loaded,  while  oth- 
ers parried  the  blows.  Scarcely  had  they  torn  open 
their  cartridges  when  the  Cossacks  fled  right  and 
left,  their  lances  in  the  air.  Some  of  them  turned 
for  a  moment  and  fired  their  large  pistols  behind  like 
regular  bandits.  At  length  our  men  began  to 
march  toward  the  city. 

Those  old  soldiers,  with  their  great  shakos  set 
square  on  their  heads,  their  large  capes  hanging  to 
the  back  of  their  calves,  their  sabres  and  cartridge- 
boxes  on  their  backs,  calm  in  the  midst  of  these 
savages,  reloading,  trimming,  and  parrying  as  quiet- 
ly as  if  they  were  smoking  their  pipes  in  the  guard- 
house, were  something  to  be  admired.  At  last,  af- 
ter seeing  them  come  out  of  the  whirlwind  two  or 
three  times,  it  seemed  almost  an  easy  thing  to  do. 

Our  sergeant  commanded  them.  I  understood 
then  why  he  was  such  a  favorite  with  the  officers, 
and  why  they  always  took  his  part  against  the  citi- 
zens: there  were  not  many  such.  I  wanted  to  call 
out,  "  Make  haste,  sergeant ;  let  us  make  haste !  " 
but  neither  he  nor  his  men  hurried  in  the  least. 

As  they  reached  the  foot  of  the  glacis,  suddenly  a 
large  mass  of  Cossacks,  seeing  that  they  were  escap- 


148  THE   BLOCKADE 

ing,  galloped  up  in  two  files,  to  cut  off  their  retreat. 
It  was  a  dangerous  moment,  and  they  formed  in  a 
square  instantly. 

I  felt  my  back  turn  cold,  as  if  I  had  been  one  of 
them. 

Our  sharpshooters  behind  the  ammunition  wag- 
ons did  not  fire,  doubtless  for  fear  of  hitting  their 
comrades;  our  gunners  on  the  bastion  leaned  down 
to  see,  and  the  file  of  Cossacks  stretched  to  the  cor- 
ner near  the  drawbridge. 

There  were  seven  or  eight  hundred  of  them.  We 
heard  them  cry,  "Hurra!  hurra!  hurra!"  like 
crows.  Several  officers  in  green  cloaks  and  small 
caps  galloped  at  the  sides  of  their  lines,  with  raised 
sabres.  I  thought  our  poor  sergeant  and  his  thirty 
men  were  lost ;  I  thought  already,  "  How  sorry  little 
SafelandSorlewillbe!" 

But  then,  as  the  Cossacks  formed  in  a  half-circle 
at  the  left  of  the  outworks,  I  heard  our  gun-captain 
call  out,  "Fire!" 

I  turned  my  head ;  old  Goulden  struck  the  match, 
the  fusee  glittered,  and  at  the  same  instant  the 
bastion  with  its  great  baskets  of  clay  shook  to  the 
very  rocks  of  the  rampart. 

I  looked  toward  the  road;  nothing  was  to  be  seen 
but  men  and  horses  on  the  ground. 

Just  then  came  a  second  shot,  and  I  can  truly  say 


THE   BLOCKADE  149 

that  I  saw  the  grape-shot  pass  like  the  stroke  of  a 
scythe  into  that  mass  of  cavalry;  it  all  tumbled  and 
fell;  those  who  a  second  before  were  living  beings 
were  now  nothing.  We  saw  some  try  to  raise  them- 
selves, the  rest  made  their  escape. 

The  firing  by  file  began  again,  and  our  gunners, 
without  waiting  for  the  smoke  to  clear  away,  re- 
loaded so  quickly  that  the  two  discharges  seemed 
to  come  at  once. 

This  mass  of  old  nails,  bolts,  broken  bits  of  cast- 
iron,  flying  three  hundred  metres,  almost  to  the  lit- 
tle bridge,  made  such  slaughter  that,  some  days  af- 
ter, the  Kussians  asked  for  an  armistice  in  order  to 
bury  their  dead. 

Four  hundred  were  found  scattered  in  the  ditches 
of  the  road. 

This  I  saw  myself. 

And  if  you  want  to  see  the  place  where  those  sav- 
ages were  buried,  you  have  only  to  go  up  the  ceme- 
tery lane. 

On  the  other  side,  at  the  right,  in  M.  Adam  Ot- 
ttndorf 's  orchard,  you  will  see  a  stone  cross  in  the 
middle  of  the  fence ;  they  were  all  buried  there,  with 
their  horses,  in  one  great  trench. 

You  can  imagine  the  delight  of  our  gunners  at 
seeing  this  massacre.  They  lifted  up  their  sponges 
and  shouted,  "  Vive  1'Empereur!  " 


I5o  THE   BLOCKADE 

The  soldiers  shouted  back  from  the  covered  ways, 
and  the  air  was  filled  with  their  cries. 

Our  sergeant,  with  his  thirty  men,  their  guns  on 
their  shoulders,  quietly  reached  the  glacis.  The 
barrier  was  quickly  opened  for  them,  but  the  two 
companies  descended  together  to  the  moat  and  came 
up  again  by  the  postern. 

I  was  waiting  for  them  above. 

When  our  sergeant  came  up  I  took  him  by  the 
arm,  "  Ah,  sergeant!  "  said  I,  "  how  glad  I  am  to  see 
you  out  of  danger!  " 

I  wanted  to  embrace  him.  He  laughed  and 
squeezed  my  hand. 

"  Then  you  saw  the  engagement,  Father  Moses!  " 
said  he,  with  a  mischievous  wink.  "  We  have 
shown  them  what  stuff  the  Fifth  is  made  of!  " 

"  Oh,  yes !  yes !  you  have  made  me  tremble." 

"  Bah!  "  said  he,  "  you  will  see  a  good  deal  more 
of  it;  it  is  a  small  affair." 

The  two  companies  re-formed  against  the  wall  of 
the  chemin  de  ronde,  and  the  whole  city  shouted, 
"Vivel'Empereur!" 

They  went  down  the  rampart  street  in  the  midst 
of  the  crowd.  I  kept  near  our  sergeant. 

As  the  detachment  was  turning  our  corner,  Sorle, 
Zeffen,  and  Safel  called  out  from  the  windows, 
"  Hurrah  for  the  veterans!  Hurrah  for  the  Fifth!  " 


FOUR  HUNDRED  WERE  FOUND  SCATTERED   IN  THE  DITCHES  OF  THE   ROAD. 


THE   BLOCKADE  151 

The  sergeant  saw  them  and  made  a  little  sign  to 
them  with  his  head.  As  I  was  going  in  I  said  to 
him,  "  Sergeant,  don't  forget  your  glass  of  cherry- 
brandy." 

"  Don't  worry,  Father  Moses,"  said  he. 

The  detachment  went  on  to  break  ranks  at  the 
Place  d'Armes  as  usual,  and  I  went  up  home  at  a 
quarter  to  four.  I  was  scarcely  in  the  room  before 
Zeffen,  Sorle,  and  Safel  threw  their  arms  round  me 
as  if  I  had  come  back  from  the  war;  little  David 
clung  to  my  knee,  and  they  all  wanted  to  know  the 
news. 

I  had  to  tell  them  about  the  attack,  the  grape- 
shot,  the  routing  of  the  Cossacks.  But  the  table 
was  ready.  I  had  not  had  my  breakfast,  and  I  said, 
"  Let  us  sit  down.  You  shall  hear  the  rest  by  and 
by.  Let  me  take  breath." 

Just  then  the  sergeant  entered  in  fine  spirits,  and 
set  the  butt-end  of  his  musket  on  the  floor.  We 
were  going  to  meet  him  when  we  saw  a  tuft  of  red 
hair  on  the  point  of  his  bayonet,  that  made  us 
tremble. 

"  Mercy,  what  is  that?  "  said  Zeffen,  covering  her 
face. 

He  knew  nothing  about  it,  and  looked  to  see, 
much  surprised. 

"  That?  "  said  he,  "  oh!  it  is  the  beard  of  a  Cos- 


152  THE   BLOCKADE 

sack  that  I  touched  as  I  passed  him — it  is  not  much 
of  anything." 

He  took  the  musket  at  once  to  his  own  room ;  but 
we  were  all  horror-struck,  and  Zeffen  could  not  re- 
cover herself.  When  the  sergeant  came  back  she 
was  still  sitting  in  the  arm-chair,  with  both  hands 
before  her  face. 

"  Ah,  Madame  Zeffen,"  said  he  sadly,  "  now  you 
are  going  to  detest  me !  " 

I  thought,  too,  that  Zeffen  would  be  afraid  of  him, 
but  women  always  like  these  men  who  risk  their 
lives  at  random.  I  have  seen  it  a  hundred  times. 
And  Zeffen  smiled  as  she  answered:  "  No,  sergeant, 
no;  these  Cossacks  ought  to  stay  at  home  and  not 
come  and  trouble  us!  You  protect  us — we  love 
you  very  much !  " 

I  persuaded  him  to  breakfast  with  us,  and  it 
ended  by  his  opening  a  window,  and  calling  out  to 
some  soldiers  passing  by  to  give  notice  at  the  can- 
tine  that  Sergeant  Trubert  was  not  coming  to  break- 
fast. 

So  we  were  all  calmed  down,  and  seated  ourselves 
at  the  table.  Sorle  went  down  to  get  a  bottle  of 
good  wine,  and  we  began  to  eat  our  breakfast. 

"We  had  coffee,  too,  and  Zeffen  wanted  to  pour  it 
out  herself  for  the  sergeant.  He  was  delighted. 


THE   BLOCKADE  153 

"  Madame  Zeffen,"  said  he,  "  you  load  me  with 
kindness!  " 

She  laughed.    We  had  never  been  happier. 

While  he  was  taking  his  cherry-brandy,  the  ser- 
geant told  us  all  about  the  attack  in  the  night;  the 
way  in  which  the  Wurtemberg  troops  had  stationed 
themselves  at  La  Roulette,  how  it  had  been  neces- 
sary to  dislodge  them  as  they  were  forcing  open 
the  two  large  gates,  the  arrival  of  the  Cossacks  at 
daybreak,  and  the  sending  out  two  companies  to 
fire  at  them. 

He  told  all  this  so  well  that  we  could  almost  think 
we  saw  it.  But  about  eleven  o'clock,  as  I  took  up 
the  bottle  to  pour  out  another  glassful,  he  wiped 
his  mustache,  and  said,  as  he  rose:  "No,  Father 
Moses,  we  have  something  to  do  besides  taking  our 
ease  and  enjoying  ourselves;  to-morrow,  or  next 
day,  the  shells  will  be  coming;  it  is  time  to  go  and 
screen  the  garret." 

We  all  became  sober  at  these  words. 

"  Let  us  see !  "  said  he ;  "I  have  seen  in  your 
court  some  long  logs  of  wood  which  have  not  been 
sawed,  and  there  are  three  or  four  large  beams 
against  the  wall.  Are  we  two  strong  enough  to 
carry  them  up?  Let  us  try!  " 

He  was  going  to  take  off  his  cape  at  once;  but, 


154  THE   BLOCKADE 

as  the  beams  were  very  heavy,  I  told  him.  to  wait 
and  I  would  run  for  the  two  Carabins,  Nicolas,  who 
was  called  the  Greyhound,  and  Mathis,  the  wood- 
sawyer.  They  came  at  once,  and,  being  used  to 
heavy  work,  they  carried  up  the  timber.  They  had 
brought  their  saws  and  axes  with  them;  the  ser- 
geant made  them  saw  the  beams,  so  as  to  cross 
them  above  in  the  form  of  a  sentry-box.  He  worked 
himself  like  a  regular  carpenter,  and  Sorle,  Zeffen, 
and  I  looked  on.  As  it  took  some  time,  my  wife 
and  daughter  went  down  to  prepare  supper,  and  I 
went  down  with  them,  to  get  a  lantern  for  the 
workmen. 

I  was  going  up  again  very  quietly,  never  think- 
ing of  danger,  when,  suddenly,  a  frightful  noise,  a 
kind  of  terrible  rumbling,  passed  along  the  roof, 
and  almost  made  me  drop  my  lantern. 

The  two  Carabins  turned  pale  and  looked  at  each 
other. 

"  It  is  a  ball !  "  said  the  sergeant. 

At  the  same  time  a  loud  sound  of  cannon  in  the 
distance  was  heard  in  the  darkness. 

I  had  a  terrible  feeling  in  my  stomach,  and  I 
thought  to  myself,  "  Since  one  ball  has  passed,  there 
may  be  two,  three,  four !  " 

"My  strength  was  all  gone.     The  two  Carabins 


THE    BLOCKADE 


155 


doubtless  thought  the  same,  for  they  took  down  at 
once  their  waistcoats,  which  were  hanging  on  the 
gable,  to  go  away. 

"  Wait !  "  said  the  sergeant.  "  It  is  nothing. 
Let  us  keep  at  our  work — it  is  going  on  well.  It 
will  be  done  in  an  hour  more." 

But  the  elder  Carabin  called  out,  "  You  may  do 
as  you  please!  /  am  not  going  to  stay  here — I 
have  a  family!  " 

And  while  he  was  speaking,  a  second  ball,  more 
frightful  than  the  first,  began  to  rumble  upon  the 
roof,  and  five  or  six  seconds  after  we  heard  the  ex- 
plosion. 

It  was  astonishing!  The  Russians  were  firing 
from  the  edge  of  the  Bois-de-Chenes,  more  than  a 
half-hour  distant,  and  yet  we  saw  the  red  flash  pass 
before  our  two  windows,  and  even  under  the  tiles. 

The  sergeant  tried  to  keep  us  still  at  work. 

"  Two  bullets  never  pass  in  the  same  place,"  said 
he.  "  "We  are  in  a  safe  spot,  since  that  has  grazed 
the  roof.  Come,  let  us  go  to  work !  " 

It  was  too  much  for  us.  I  placed  the  lantern  on 
the  floor  and  went  down,  feeling  as  if  my  thighs 
were  broken.  I  wanted  to  sit  down  at  every  step. 

Out  of  doors  they  were  shouting  as  if  it  were 
morning,  and  in  a  more  frightful  way.  Chimneys 


156  THE    BLOCKADE 

were  falling,  and  women  running  to  the  windows; 
but  I  paid  no  attention  to  it,  I  was  so  frightened 
myself. 

The  two  Carabins  had  gone  away  paler  than 
death. 

All  that  night  I  was  ill.  Sorle  and  Zeffen  were 
no  more  at  ease  than  myself.  The  sergeant  kept 
on  alone,  placing  the  logs  and  making  them  fast. 
About  midnight  he  came  down. 

"  Father  Moses,"  said  he,  "  the  roof  is  screened, 
but  your  two  men  are  cowards;  they  left  me  alone." 

I  thanked  him,  and  told  him  that  we  were  all 
sick,  and  as  for  myself  I  had  never  felt  anything 
like  it.  He  laughed. 

"  I  know  what  that  is,"  said  he.  "  Conscripts 
always  feel  so  when  they  hear  the  first  ball;  but 
that  is  soon  over — they  only  need  to  get  a  little 
used  to  it." 

Then  he  went  to  bed,  and  everybody  in  the  house, 
except  myself,  went  to  sleep. 

The  Eussians  did  not  fire  after  ten  o'clock  that 
night;  they  had  only  tried  one  or  two  field-pieces, 
to  warn  us  of  what  they  had  in  store. 

All  this,  Fritz,  was  but  the  beginning  of  the 
blockade;  you  are  going  to  hear  now  of  the  miser- 
ies we  endured  for  three  months. 


TTTT 

A   DESERTER    CAPTURED 

THE  city  was  joyful  the  next  day,  notwithstand- 
ing the  firing  in  the  night.  A  number  of  men  who 
came  from  the  ramparts  about  seven  o'clock,  came 
down  our  street  shouting:  "  They  are  gone!  There 
is  not  a  single  Cossack  to  be  seen  in  the  direction 
of  Quatre- Vents,  nor  behind  the  barracks  of  the 
Bois-de-Chenes!  Vive  VEmpereur!" 

Everybody  ran  to  the  bastions. 

I  had  opened  one  of  our  windows,  and  leaned  out 
in  my  nightcap.  It  was  thawing,  the  snow  was 
sliding  from  the  roofs,  and  that  in  the  streets  was 
melting  in  the  mud.  Sorle,  who  was  turning  up 
our  bed,  called  to  me:  "  Do  shut  the  window,  Moses! 
We  shall  catch  cold  from  the  draught!  " 

But  I  did  not  listen.  I  laughed  as  I  thought: 
"  The  rascals  have  had  enough  of  my  old  bars  and 
rusty  nails;  they  have  found  out  that  they  fly  a 
good  way:  experience  is  a  good  thing!  " 

I  could  have  stayed  there  till  night  to  hear  the 
157 


158  THE    BLOCKADE 

t 

neighbors  talk  about  the  clearing  away  of  the  Rus- 
sians, and  those  who  came  from  the  ramparts  de- 
claring that  there  was  not  one  to  be  seen  in  the 
whole  region.  Some  said  that  they  might  come 
back,  but  that  seemed  to  me  contrary  to  reason.  It 
was  clear  that  the  villains  would  not  quit  the  coun- 
try at  once,  that  they  would  still  for  a  long  time  pil- 
lage the  villages,  and  live  on  the  peasants;  but  to 
believe  that  the  officers  would  excite  their  men  to 
take  our  city,  or  that  the  soldiers  would  be  foolish 
enough  to  obey  them,  never  entered  my  head. 

At  last  Zeffen  came  into  our  room  to  dress  the 
children,  and  I  shut  the  window.  A  good  fire 
roared  in  the  stove.  Sorle  made  ready  our  break- 
fast, while  Zeffen  washed  her  little  Esdras  in  a 
basin  of  warm  water. 

"  Ah,  now,  if  I  could  only  hear  from  Baruch, 
it  would  all  be  well,"  said  she. 

Little  David  played  on  the  floor  with  Safel,  and 
I  thanked  the  Lord  for  having  delivered  us  from 
the  scoundrels. 

While  we  were  at  breakfast,  I  said  to  my  wife: 
"  It  has  all  gone  well !  We  shall  be  shut  up  for  a 
while  until  the  Emperor  has  carried  the  day,  but 
they  will  not  fire  upon  us,  they  will  be  satisfied  with 
blockading  us;  and  bread,  wine,  meats,  and  bran- 
dies, will  grow  dearer.  It  is  the  right  time  for  us 


THE  BLOCKADE  159 

to  sell,  or  else  we  might  fare  like  the  people  of  Sa- 
maria when  Ben-Hadad  besieged  their  city.  There 
was  a  great  famine,  so  that  the  head  of  an  ass  sold 
for  four-score  pieces  of  silver,  and  the  fourth  part 
of  a  cab  of  dove's-dung  for  five  pieces.  It  was  a 
good  price;  but  still  the  merchants  were  holding 
back,  when  a  noise  of  chariots  and  horses  and  of  a 
great  host  came  from  heaven,  and  made  the  Syrians 
escape  with  Ben-Hadad,  and  after  the  people  had 
pillaged  their  camp,  a  measure  of  fine  flour  sold  for 
only  a  shekel,  and  two  measures  of  barley  for  a 
shekel.  So  let  us  try  to  sell  while  things  are  at  a 
reasonable  price;  we  must  begin  in  good  season." 

Sorle  assented,  and  after  breakfast  I  went  down 
to  the  cellar  to  go  on  with  the  mixing. 

Many  of  the  mechanics  had  gone  back  to  their 
work.  Klipfel's  hammer  sounded  on  his  anvil. 
Chanoine  put  back  his  rolls  into  his  windows,  and 
Tribolin,  the  druggist,  his  bottles  of  red  and  blue 
water  behind  his  panes. 

Confidence  was  restored  everywhere.  The  citi- 
zen-gunners had  taken  off  their  uniforms,  and  the 
joiners  had  come  back  to  finish  our  counter;  the 
noise  of  the  saw  and  plane  filled  the  house. 

Everybody  was  glad  to  return  to  his  own  busi- 
ness, for  war  brings  nothing  but  harm;  the  sooner 
it  is  over  the  better. 


160  THE   BLOCKADE 

As  I  carried  my  jugs  from  one  tun  to  another, 
in  the  cellar,  I  saw  the  passers-by  stop  before  our 
old  shop,  and  heard  them  say  to  each  other,  "  Moses 
is  going  to  make  his  fortune  with  the  brandy;  these 
rascals  of  Jews  always  have  good  scent;  while  we 
have  been  selling  this  month  past,  he  has  been  buy- 
ing. "Now  that  we  are  shut  up  he  can  sell  at  any 
price  he  pleases." 

You  can  judge  whether  that  was  not  pleasant  to 
hear!  A  man's  greatest  happiness  is  to  succeed  in 
his  business ;  everybody  is  obliged  to  say :  "  This 
man  has  neither  army,  nor  generals,  nor  cannon, 
he  has  nothing  but  his  own  wit,  like  everybody  else ; 
when  he  succeeds  he  owes  it  to  himself,  and  not  to 
the  courage  of  others.  And  then  he  ruins  no  one; 
he  does  not  rob,  or  steal,  or  kill;  while,  in  war,  the 
strongest  crushes  the  weakest  and  often  the  best." 

So  I  worked  on  with  great  zeal,  and  would  have 
kept  on  till  night  if  little  Safel  had  not  come  to 
call  me  to  dinner.  I  was  hungry,  and  was  going  up- 
stairs, glad  in  the  thought  of  sitting  down  in  the 
midst  of  my  children,  when  the  call-beat  began  on 
the  Place  d'Armes,  before  the  town-house.  During 
a  blockade  a  court-martial  sits  continually  at  the 
mayoralty  to  try  those  who  do  not  answer  to  the 
call.  Some  of  my  neighbors  were  already  leaving 
their  houses  with  their  muskets  on  their  shoulders. 


THE   BLOCKADE  161 

I  had  to  go  up  very  hastily,  and  swallow  a  little 
soup,  a  morsel  of  meat,  and  a  glass  of  wine. 

I  was  very  pale.  Sorle,  Zeffen,  and  the  children 
said  not  a  word.  The  drum  corps  continued  the 
call  to  arms;  it  came  down  the  main  street  and 
stopped  at  last  before  our  house,  on  the  little  square. 
Then  I  ran  for  my  cartridge-box  and  musket. 

"  Ah!  "  said  Sorle,  "  we  thought  we  were  going 
to  have  a  quiet  time,  and  now  it  is  all  beginning 
again." 

Zeffen  did  not  speak,  but  burst  into  tears. 

At  that  moment  the  old  Rabbi  Heymann  came 
in,  with  his  old  martin-skin  cap  drawn  down  to  the 
nape  of  his  neck. 

"  For  heaven's  sake  let  the  women  and  children 
hurry  to  the  casemates!  An  envoy  has  come 
threatening  to  burn  the  whole  city  if  the  gates  are 
not  opened.  Fly,  Sorle!  Zeffen,  fly!  " 

Imagine  the  cries  of  the  women  on  hearing  this; 
as  for  myself,  my  hair  stood  on  end. 

"  The  rascals  have  no  shame  in  them!  "  I  ex- 
claimed. "  They  have  no  pity  on  women  or  chil- 
dren! May  the  curse  of  heaven  fall  on  them!  " 

Zeffen  threw  herself  into  my  arms.  I  did  not 
know  what  to  do. 

But  the  old  rabbi  said:  "  They  are  doing  to  us 
what  our  people  have  done  to  them!  So  the  words 
ii 


162  THE   BLOCKADE 

of  the  Lord  are  fulfilled:  l  As  thou  hast  done  unto 
thy  brother  so  shall  it  be  done  unto  thee ! ' — But, 
you  must  fly  quickly." 

Below,  the  call-beat  had  ceased;  my  knees  trem- 
bled. Sorle,  who  never  lost  courage,  said  to  me: 
"  Moses,  run  to  the  square,  make  haste,  or  they 
will  send  you  to  prison!  " 

Her  judgment  was  always  right;  she  pushed  me 
by  the  shoulders,  and  in  spite  of  Zeffen's  tears  I 
went  down,  calling  out :  "  Rabbi,  I  trust  in  you — 
save  them!  " 

I  could  not  see  clearly;  I  went  through  the  snow, 
miserable  man  that  I  was,  running  to  the  town- 
house  where  the  National  Guard  was  already  as- 
sembled. I  came  just  in  time  to  answer  the  call, 
and  you  can  imagine  my  trouble,  for  Zeffen,  Sorle, 
Safel,  and  the  little  ones  were  abandoned  before 
my  eyes.  What  was  Phalsburg  to  me?  I  would 
have  opened  the  gates  in  a  minute  to  have  had 
peace. 

The  others  did  not  look  any  better  pleased  than 
myself;  they  were  all  thinking  of  their  families. 

Our  governor,  Moulin,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Bran- 
cion,  and  Captains  Renvoye,  Yigneron,  Grebillet, 
with  their  great  military  caps  put  on  crosswise, 
these  alone  felt  no  anxiety.  They  would  have  mur- 
dered and  burnt  everything  for  the  Emperor.  The 


THE   BLOCKADE  163 

governor  even  laughed,  and  said  that  he  would 
surrender  the  city  when  the  shells  set  his  pocket- 
handkerchief  on  fire.  Judge  from  this,  how  much 
sense  such  a  being  had! 

"While  they  were  reviewing  us,  groups  of  the 
aged  and  infirm,  of  women  and  children,  passed 
across  the  square  on  their  way  to  the  casemates. 

I  saw  our  little  wagon  go  by  with  the  roll  of 
coverings  and  mattresses  on  it.  The  old  rabbi  was 
between  the  shafts — Safel  pushed  behind.  Sorle 
carried  David,  and  Zeffen  Esdras.  They  were 
walking  in  the  mud,  with  their  hair  loose  as  if  they 
were  escaping  from  a  fire;  but  they  did  not  speak, 
and  went  on  silently  in  the  midst  of  that  great 
trouble. 

I  would  have  given  my  life  to  go  and  help  them 
— I  must  stay  in  the  ranks.  Ah,  the  old  men  of 
my  time  have  seen  terrible  things !  How  often  have 
they  thought: — "  Happy  is  he  who  lives  alone  in 
the  world;  he  suffers  only  for  himself,  he  does  not 
see  those  whom  he  loves  weeping  and  groaning, 
without  the  power  to  help  them." 

Immediately  after  the  review,  detachments  of 
citizen-gunners  were  sent  to  the  armories  to  man 
the  pieces,  the  firemen  were  sent  to  the  old  market 
to  get  out  the  pumps,  and  the  rest  of  us,  with  half 
a  battalion  of  the  Sixth  Light  Infantry,  were  sent 


164  THE   BLOCKADE 

to  the  guard-house  on  the  square,  to  relieve  the 
guards  and  supply  patrols. 

The  two  other  battalions  had  already  gone  to  the 
advance-posts  of  Trois-Maisons,  of  La  Fontaine-du- 
Chateau, — to  the  block-houses,  the  half  moons,  the 
Ozillo  farm,  and  the  Maisons-Rouges,  outside  of 
the  city. 

Our  post  at  the  mayoralty  consisted  of  thirty- 
two  men;  sixteen  soldiers  of  the  line  below,  com- 
manded by  Lieutenant  Schnindret,  and  sixteen  of 
the  National  Guard  above,  commanded  byDesplaces 
Jacob.  We  used  Burrhus's  lodging  for  our  guard- 
house. It  was  a  large  hall  with  six-inch  planks,  and 
beams  such  as  you  do  not  find  nowadays  in  our 
forests.  A  large,  round,  cast-iron  stove,  standing 
on  a  slab  four  feet  square,  was  in  the  left-hand  cor- 
ner, near  the  door;  the  zigzag  pipes  went  into  the 
chimney  at  the  right,  and  piles  of  wood  covered  the 
floor. 

It  seems  as  if  I  were  now  in  that  hall.  The 
melted  snow  which  we  shook  off  on  entering  ran 
along  the  floor.  I  have  never  seen  a  sadder  day 
than  that;  not  only  because  the  bombshells  and 
balls  might  rain  upon  us  at  any  moment,  and  set 
everything  on  fire,  but  because  of  the  melting  snow, 
and  the  mud,  and  the  dampness  which  reached 
your  very  bones,  and  the  orders  of  the  sergeant, 


THE   BLOCKADE  165 

who  did  nothing  but  call  out:  "  Such  and  such  an 
one,  march!  Such  an  one  forward,  it  is  your 
turn!  "  etc. 

And  then  the  jests  and  jokes  of  this  mass  of  til- 
ers, and  cobblers,  and  plasterers,  with  their  patched 
blouses,  shoes  run  down  at  the  heel,  and  caps  with- 
out visors,  seated  in  a  circle  around  the  stove,  with 
their  rags  sticking  to  their  backs,  thouing  you  like 
all  the  rest  of  their  beggarly  race :  "  Moses,  pass 
along  the  pitcher !  Moses,  give  me  some  fire ! — Ah, 
rascals  of  Jews,  when  a  body  risks  his  life  to  save 
property,  how  proud  it  makes  them!  Ah,  the  vil- 
lains! " 

And  they  winked  at  each  other,  and  pushed 
each  other's  elbows,  and  made  up  faces  askance. 
Some  of  them  wanted  me  to  go  and  get  some 
tobacco  for  them,  and  pay  for  it  myself!  In 
fine,  all  sorts  of  insults,  which  a  respectable  man 
could  endure  from  the  rabble ! — Yes,  it  disgusts  me 
whenever  I  think  of  it. 

In  this  guard-house,  where  we  burned  whole  logs 
of  wood  as  if  they  were  straw,  the  steaming  old  rags 
which  came  in  soaking  wet  did  not  smell  very 
pleasantly.  I  had  to  go  out  every  minute  to  the 
little  platform  behind  the  hall,  in  order  to  breathe, 
and  the  cold  water  which  the  wind  blew  from,  the 
spout  sent  me  in  again  at  once. 


166  THE   BLOCKADE 

Afterward,  in  thinking  it  over,  it  has  seemed  as 
if,  without  these  troubles,  my  heart  would  have 
broken  at  the  thought  of  Sorle,  Zeffen,  and  the 
children  shut  up  in  a  cellar,  and  that  these  very 
annoyances  preserved  my  reason. 

This  lasted  till  evening.  We  did  nothing  but  go 
in  and  out,  sit  down,  smoke  our  pipes,  and  then 
begin  again  to  walk  the  pavement  in  the  rain,  or 
remain  on  duty  for  hours  together  at  the  entrance 
of  the  posterns. 

Toward  nine  o'clock,  when  all  was  dark  without, 
and  nothing  was  to  be  heard  but  the  pacing  of  the 
patrols,  the  shouts  of  the  sentries  on  the  ramparts: 
"  Sentries,  attention !  "  and  the  steps  of  our  men  on 
their  rounds  up  and  down  the  great  wooden  stair- 
way of  the  admiralty,  the  thought  suddenly  came 
to  me  that  the  Russians  had  only  tried  to  frighten 
us,  that  it  meant  nothing;  and  that  there  would  be 
no  shells  that  night. 

In  order  to  be  on  good  terms  with  the  men,  I  had 
asked  Monborne's  permission  to  go  and  get  a  jug 
full  of  brandy,  which  he  at  once  granted.  I  took 
advantage  of  the  opportunity  to  bite  a  crust  and 
drink  a  glass  of  wine  at  home.  Jhen  I  went  back, 
and  all  the  men  at  the  station  were  very  friendly; 
they  passed  the  jug  from  one  to  another,  and  said 
that  my  brandy  was  very  good,  and  that  the  ser- 


THE   BLOCKADE  167 

geant  would  give  me  leave  to  go  and  fill  it  as  often 
as  I  pleased. 

"  Yes,  since  it  is  Moses,"  replied  Monborne,  "  he 
may  have  leave,  but  nobody  else." 

We  were  all  on  excellent  terms  with  each  other 
and  nobody  thought  of  bombardment,  when  a  red 
flash  passed  along  the  high  windows  of  the  room. 
We  all  turned  round,  and  in  a  few  seconds  the  shell 
rumbled  on  the  Bichelberg  hill.  At  the  same  time 
a  second,  then  a  third  flash  passed,  one  after  the 
other,  through  the  large  dark  room,  showing  us  the 
houses  opposite. 

You  can  never  have  an  idea,  Fritz,  of  those  first 
lights  at  night!  Corporal  Winter,  an  old  soldier, 
who  grated  tobacco  for  Tribou,  stooped  down 
quietly  and  lighted  his  pipe,  and  said :  "  Well,  the 
dance  is  beginning!  " 

Almost  instantly  we  heard  a  shell  burst  at  the 
right,  in  the  infantry  quarters,  another  at  the  left  in 
the  Piplinger  house  on  the  square,  and  another 
quite  near  us  in  the  Hemmerle  house. 

I  can't  help  trembling  as  I  think  of  it  now  after 
thirty  years. 

All  the  women  were  in  the  casemates,  except 
some  old  servants  who  did  not  want  to  leave  their 
kitchens ;  they  screamed  out :  "  Help !  Fire !  " 

We  were  all  sure  that  we  were  lost;  only  the  old 


168  THE   BLOCKADE 

soldiers,  crooked  on  their  bench  by  the  stove,  with 
their  pipes  in  their  mouths,  seemed  very  calm,  as 
people  might  who  have  nothing  to  lose. 

What  was  worst  of  all,  at  the  moment  when  our 
cannon  at  the  arsenal  and  powder-house  began  to 
answer  the  Russians',  and  made  every  pane  of  glass 
in  the  old  building  rattle,  Sergeant  Monborne  called 
out:  "  Somme,  Chevreux,  Moses,  Dubourg:  For- 
ward! " 

To  send  fathers  of  families  roaming  about 
through  the  mud,  in  danger,  at  every  step,  of  being 
struck  by  bursting  shells,  tiles,  and  whole  chimneys 
falling  on  their  backs,  is  something  against  nature; 
the  very  mention  of  it  makes  me  perfectly  furious. 

Somme  and  the  big  innkeeper  Chevreux  turned 
round,  full  of  indignation  also;  they  wanted  to  ex- 
claim: "  It  is  abominable !" 

But  that  rascal  of  a  Monborne  was  sergeant,  and 
nobody  dared  speak  a  vord  or  even  give  a  side- 
look;  and  as  Winter,  tho  corporal  of  the  round,  had 
taken  down  his  musket,  and  made  a  signal  for  us  to 
go  on,  we  all  took  our  arms  and  followed  him. 

As  we  went  down  the  stairway,  you  should  have 
seen  the  red  light,  flash  after  flash,  lighting  up 
every  nook  and  corner  under  the  stairs  and  the 
worm-eaten  rafters;  you  should  have  heard  our 
twenty-four  pounders  thunder;  the  old  rat-hole 


IT  WAS  AGAINST  NATURE  TO    SFND  FATHERS  OF  FAMILIES   ROAMING 
ABOUT   THROUGH    Til*   MUD    IN    DANGER. 


THE   BLOCKADE  169 

shook  to  its  foundations,  and  seemed  as  if  it  was  all 
falling  to  pieces.  And  under  the  arch  below,  to- 
ward the  Place  d'Armes,  this  light  shone  from  the 
snow  banks  to  the  tops  of  the  roofs,  showing  the 
glittering  pavements,  the  puddles  of  water,  the 
chimneys,  and  dormer-windows,  and,  at  the  very 
end  of  the  street,  the  cavalry  barracks,  even  the 
ssntry  in  his  box  near  the  large  gate: — what  a 
sight ! 

"  It  is  all  over !    We  are  all  lost !  "  I  thought. 

Two  shells  passed  at  this  moment  over  the  city: 
they  were  the  first  that  I  had  seen;  they  moved  so 
slowly  that  I  could  follow  them  through  the  dark 
sky;  both  fell  in  the  trenches,  behind  the  hospital. 
The  charge  was  too  heavy,  luckily  for  us. 

I  did  not  speak,  nor  did  the  others — we  kept  our 
thoughts  to  ourselves.  We  heard  the  calls  "  Sen- 
tries, attention !  "  answered  from  one  bastion  to  an- 
other all  around  the  place,  warning  us  of  the  terri- 
ble danger  we  were  in. 

Corporal  Winter,  with  his  old  faded  blouse, 
coarse  cotton  cap,  stooping  shoulders,  musket  in 
shoulder-belt,  pipe-end  between  his  teeth,  and  lan- 
tern full  of  tallow  swinging  at  arm's  length,  walked 
before  us,  calling  out:  "Look  out  for  the  shells! 
Lie  flat!  Do  you  hear?  " 

I  have  always  thought  that  veterans  of  this  sort 


I7o  THE   BLOCKADE 

despise  citizens,  and  that  lie  said  this  to  frighten  us 
still  more. 

A  little  farther  on,  at  the  entrance  of  the  cul-de- 
sac  where  Cloutier  lived,  he  halted. 

"  Come  on!  "  he  called,  for  we  marched  in  file 
without  seeing  each  other.  When  we  had  come  up 
to  him  he  said,  "  There,  now,  you  men,  try  to  keep 
together !  Our  patrol  is  to  prevent  fire  from  break- 
ing out  anywhere;  as  soon  as  we  see  a  shell  pass, 
Moses  will  run  up  and  snatch  the  fuse." 

He  burst  into  a  laugh  as  he  spoke,  so  that  my 
anger  was  roused. 

"  I  have  not  come  here  to  be  laughed  at,"  said  I; 
"  if  you  take  me  for  a  fool,  I  will  throw  down  my 
musket  and  cartridge-box,  and  go  to  the  casemates." 

He  laughed  harder  than  ever.  "  Moses,  respect 
thy  superiors,  or  beware  of  the  court-martial !  "  said 
he. 

The  others  would  have  laughed  too,  but  the  shell 
flashes  began  again;  they  went  down  the  rampart 
street,  driving  the  air  before  them  like  gusts  of 
wind;  the  cannon  of  the  arsenal  bastion  had  just 
fired.  At  the  same  time  a  shell  burst  in  the  street 
of  the  Capuchins;  Spick's  chimney  and  half  his 
roof  fell  to  the  ground  with  a  frightful  noise. 

"  Forward !  March !  "  called  Winter. 

They  had  now  all  become  sober.     We  followed 


THE   BLOCKADE  171 

the  lantern  to  the  French  gate.  Behind  us,  in  the 
street  of  the  Capuchins,  a  dog  howled  incessantly. 
Now  and  then  "Winter  stopped,  and  we  all  listened ; 
nothing  was  stirring,  and  nothing  was  to  be  heard 
but  the  dog  and  the  cries:  "  Sentries,  attention!  " 
The  city  was  as  still  as  death. 

We  ought  to  have  gone  into  the  guard-house,  for 
there  was  nothing  to  be  seen ;  but  the  lantern  went 
on  toward  the  gate,  swinging  above  the  gutter. 
That  Winter  had  taken  too  much  brandy! 

"  We  are  of  no  use  in  this  street,"  said  Chev- 
reux;  "  we  can't  keep  the  balls  from  passing." 

But  Winter  kept  calling  out :  "  Are  you  com- 
ing? "  And  we  had  to  obey. 

In  front  of  Genodet's  stables,  where  the  old  barns 
of  the  gendarmerie  begin,  a  lane  turned  to  the  left 
toward  the  hospital.  This  was  full  of  manure  and 
heaps  of  dirt — a  drain  in  fact.  Well,  this  rascal  of 
a  Winter  turned  into  it,  and  as  we  could  not  see 
our  feet  without  the  lantern,  we  had  to  follow  him. 
We  went  groping,  under  the  roofs  of  the  sheds, 
along  the  crazy  old  walls.  It  seemed  as  if  we 
should  never  get  out  of  this  gutter;  but  at  last  we 
came  out  near  the  hospital  in  the  midst  of  the  great 
piles  of  manure,  which  were  heaped  against  the 
grating  of  the  sewer. 

It  seemed  a  little  lighter,  and  we  saw  the  roof  of 


172  THE   BLOCKADE 

the  French  gate,  and  the  line  of  fortifications  black 
against  the  sky;  and  almost  immediately  I  per- 
ceived the  figure  of  a  man  gliding  among  the  trees 
at  the  top  of  the  rampart.  It  was  a  soldier  stooping 
so  that  his  hands  almost  touched  the  ground.  They 
did  not  fire  on  this  side;  the  distant  flashes  passed 
over  the  roofs,  and  did  not  lighten  the  streets  below. 

I  caught  Winter's  arm,  and  pointed  out  to  him 
this  man;  he  instantly  hid  his  lantern  under  his 
blouse.  The  soldier  whose  back  was  toward  us, 
stood  up,  and  looked  round,  apparently  listening. 
This  lasted  for  two  or  three  minutes;  then  he  passed 
over  the  rampart  at  the  corner  of  the  bastion,  and 
we  heard  something  scrape  the  wall  of  the  rampart. 

Winter  immediately  began  to  run,  crying  out: 
"  A  deserter !  To  the  postern !  " 

We  had  heard  before  this  of  deserters  slipping 
down  into  the  trenches  by  means  of  their  bayonets. 
We  all  ran.  The  sentry  called  out :  "  Who  goes 
there?" 

"  The  citizen  patrol,"  replied  Winter. 

He  advanced,  gave  the  order,  and  we  went  down 
the  postern  steps  like  wild  beasts. 

Below,  at  the  foot  of  the  large  bastions  built 
on  the  rock,  we  saw  nothing  but  snow,  large  black 
stones,  and  bushes  covered  with  frost.  The  deserter 
needed  only  to  keep  still  under  the  bushes;  our  Ian- 


THE   BLOCKADE  173 

tern,  which  shone  only  for  fifteen  or  twenty  feet, 
might  have  wandered  about  till  morning  without 
discovering  him :  and  we  should  ourselves  have  sup- 
posed that  he  had  escaped.  But  unfortunately  for 
him,  fear  urged  him  on,  and  we  saw  him  in  the  dis- 
tance running  to  the  stairs  which  lead  up  to  the 
covered  ways.  He  went  like  the  wind. 

"  Halt !  or  I  fire !  "  cried  Winter;  but  he  did  not 
stop,  and  we  all  ran  together  on  his  track,  calling 
out  "Halt!  Halt!" 

Winter  had  given  me  the  lantern  so  as  to  run 
faster;  I  followed  at  a  distance,  thinking  to  myself: 
"  Moses,  if  this  man  is  taken,  thou  will  be  the  cause 
of  his  death."  I  wanted  to  put  out  the  lantern,  but 
if  Winter  had  seen  me  he  would  have  been  capable 
of  knocking  me  down  with  the  butt-end  of  his  mus- 
ket. He  had  for  a  long  time  been  hoping  for  the 
cross,  and  was  all  the  time  expecting  it  and  the  pen- 
sion with  it. 

The  deserter  ran,  as  I  said,  to  the  stairs.  Sud- 
denly he  perceived  that  the  ladder,  which  takes  the 
place  of  the  eight  lower  steps,  was  taken  away,  and 
he  stopped,  stupefied!  We  came  nearer — he  heard 
us  and  began  to  run  faster,  to  the  right  toward  the 
half-moon.  The  poor  devil  rolled  over  the  snow- 
banks. Winter  aimed  at  him,  and  called  out: 
"Halt!  Surrenderl " 


174  THE   BLOCKADE 

But  he  got  up  and  began  to  run  again. 

Behind  the  outworks,  under  the  drawbridge,  we 
thought  we  had  lost  him :  the  corporal  called  to  me, 
"  Come  along!  A  thousand  thunders!  "  and  at  that 
moment  we  saw  him  leaning  against  the  wall,  as 
pale  as  death.  Winter  took  him  by  the  collar  and 
said:  "  I  have  got  you!  " 

Then  he  tore  an  epaulette  from  his  shoulder: 
"You  are  not  worthy  to  wear  that!"  said  he; 
"  come  along!  " 

He  dragged  him  out  of  his  corner,  and  held  the 
lantern  before  his  face.  We  saw  a  handsome  boy 
of  eighteen  or  nineteen,  tall  and  slender,  with  small, 
light  mustaches,  and  blue  eyes. 

Seeing  him  there  so  pale,  with  Winter's  fist  at  his 
throat,  I  thought  of  the  poor  boy's  father  and 
mother;  my  heart  smote  me,  and  I  could  not  help 
saying:  "  Come,  Winter,  he  is  a  child,  a  mere  child ! 
He  will  not  do  it  again !  " 

But  Winter,  who  thought  that  now  surely  his 
cross  was  won,  turned  upon  me  furiously: 

"  I  tell  thee  what,  Jew,  stop,  or  I  will  run  my 
bayonet  through  thy  body!  " 

"  Wretch !  "  thought  I,  "  what  will  not  a  man  do 
to  make  sure  of  his  glass  of  wine  for  the  rest  of  his 
days?" 


WINTER   TOOK  HIM   BY   THE   COLLAK,    AND   SAID :    "  I   HAVE  YOU  NOW  ! " 


THE   BLOCKADE  175 

I  had  a  sort  of  horror  of  that  man;  there  are  wild 
beasts  in  the  human  race ! 

Chevreux,  Somme,  and  Dubourg  did  not  speak. 

"Winter  began  to  walk  toward  the  postern,  with 
his  hand  on  the  deserter's  collar. 

"  If  he  stops,"  said  he,  "  strike  him  on  the  back 
with  your  muskets!  Ah,  scoundrel,  you  desert  in 
the  face  of  the  enemy!  Your  case  is  clear:  next 
Sunday  you  will  sleep  under  the  turf  of  the  half- 
moon!  "Will  you  come  on?  Strike  him  with  the 
butt-end,  you  cowards !  " 

What  pained  me  most  was  to  hear  the  poor  fel- 
low's heavy  sighs;  he  breathed  so  hard,  from  his 
fright  at  being  taken,  and  knowing  that  he  would 
be  shot,  that  we  could  hear  him  fifteen  paces  off; 
the  sweat  ran  down  my  forehead.  And  now  and 
then  he  turned  to  me  and  gave  me  such  a  look  as  I 
shall  never  forget,  as  if  to  say:  "  Save  me!  " 

If  I  had  been  alone  with  Dubourg  and  Chevreux, 
we  would  have  let  him  go;  but  Winter  would 
sooner  have  murdered  him. 

We  came  in  this  way  to  the  foot  of  the  postern. 
They  made  the  deserter  pass  first.  When  we 
reached  the  top,  a  sergeant,  with  four  men  from  the 
next  station,  was  already  there,  waiting  for  us. 

"  What  is  it  ?  "  asked  the  sergeant. 

"  A  deserter,"  said  Winter. 


176  THE    BLOCKADE 

The  sergeant — an  old  man — looked  at  him,  and 
said:  "  Take  him  to  the  station." 

"  No,"  said  Winter,  "  he  will  go  with  us  to  the 
station  on  the  square." 

"  I  will  reinforce  you  with  two  men,"  said  the 
sergeant. 

"  We  do  not  need  them,"  replied  Winter  roughly. 
"  We  took  him  ourselves,  and  we  are  enough  to 
guard  him." 

The  sergeant  saw  that  we  ought  to  have  all  the 
glory  of  it,  and  he  said  no  more. 

We  started  off  again,  shouldering  our  arms;  the 
prisoner,  all  in  tatters  and  without  his  shako, 
walked  in  the  midst. 

We  soon  came  to  the  little  square;  we  had  only 
to  cross  the  old  market  before  reaching  the  guard- 
house. The  cannon  of  the  arsenal  were  firing  all 
the  time;  as  we  were  starting  to  leave  the  market, 
one  of  the  flashes  lighted  up  the  arch  in  front  of  us; 
the  prisoner  saw  the  door  of  the  jail  at  the  left, 
with  its  great  locks,  and  the  sight  gave  him  terrible 
strength;  he  tore  off  his  collar,  and  threw  him- 
self from  us  with  both  arms  stretched  out 
behind. 

Winter  had  been  almost  thrown  down,  but  he 
threw  himself  at  once  upon  the  deserter,  exclaim- 
ing, "  Ah,  scoundrel,  you  want  to  run  away!  " 


THE   BLOCKADE  177 

We  saw  no  more,  for  the  lantern  fell  to  the 
ground. 

"  Guard !  guard !  "  cried  Chevreux. 

All  this  took  but  a  moment,  and  half  of  the  in- 
fantry post  were  already  there  under  arms.  Then 
we  saw  the  prisoner  again;  he  was  sitting  on  the 
edge  of  the  stairway  among  the  pillars;  blood  was 
running  from  his  mouth;  not  more  than  half  his 
waistcoat  was  left,  and  he  was  bent  forward,  trem- 
bling from  head  to  foot. 

Winter  held  him  by  the  nape  of  the  neck,  and 
said  to  Lieutenant  Schnindret,  who  was  looking  on : 
"  A  deserter,  lieutenant !  He  has  tried  to  escape 
twice,  but  Winter  was  on  hand." 

"  That  is  right,"  said  the  lieutenant.  "  Let  them 
find  the  jailer." 

Two  soldiers  went  away.  A  number  of  our  com- 
rades of  the  National  Guard  had  come  down,  but 
nobody  spoke.  However  hard  men  may  be,  when 
they  see  a  wretch  in  such  a  condition,  and  think, 
"  the  day  after  to-morrow  he  will  be  shot !  "  every- 
body is  silent,  and  a  good  many  would  even  release 
him  if  they  could. 

After  some  minutes  Harmantier  arrived  with  his 
woollen  jacket  and  his  bunch  of  keys. 

The  lieutenant  said  to  him,  "  Lock  up  this  man !  " 

"  Come,  get  up  and  walk!  "  he  said  to  the  de- 

12 


178  THE   BLOCKADE 

serter,  who  rose  and  followed  Harmantier,  while 
everybody  crowded  round. 

The  jailer  opened  the  two  massive  doors  of  the 
prison ;  the  prisoner  entered  without  resistance,  and 
then  the  large  locks  and  bolts  fastened  him  in. 

"  Every  man  return  to  his  post!  "  said  the  lieu- 
tenant to  us.  And  we  went  up  the  steps  of  the 
mayoralty. 

All  this  had  so  upset  me  that  I  had  not  thought 
of  my  wife  and  children.  But  when  once  above,  in 
the  large  warm  room,  full  of  smoke,  with  all  that 
set  who  were  laughing  and  boasting  at  having  taken 
a  poor,  unresisting  deserter,  the  thought  that  I  was 
the  cause  of  this  misery  filled  my  soul  with  anguish ; 
I  stretched  myself  on  the  camp-bed,  and  thought  of 
all  the  trouble  that  is  in  the  world,  of  ZefFen,  of 
Safel,  of  my  children,  who  might,  perhaps,  some 
day  be  arrested  for  not  liking  war.  And  the  words 
of  the  Lord  came  to  my  mind,  which  He  spake  to 
Samuel,  when  the  people  desired  a  king: 

"  Hearken  unto  the  voice  of  the  people  in  all  that 
they  say  unto  thee;  for  they  have  not  rejected  thee 
but  they  have  rejected  me,  that  I  should  not  reign 
over  them.  Howbeit  yet  protest  solemnly  unto 
them,  and  show  them  the  manner  of  the  king  that 
shall  reign  over  them.  He  will  take  your  sons  and 
appoint  them  for  himself;  and  some  shall  run  be- 


THE   BLOCKADE  179 

fore  his  chariots.  He  will  set  them  to  make  his  in- 
struments of  war.  And  he  will  take  your  daughters 
to  be  cooks  and  bakers.  And  he  will  take  your 
fields  and  your  vineyards,  and  your  olive-yards,  even 
the  best  of  them,  and  give  them  to  his  servants.  He 
will  take  your  men-servants,  and  your  maid-ser- 
vants, and  your  goodliest  young  men.  He  will  take 
the  tenth  of  your  sheep;  and  ye  shall  be  his  ser- 
vants. And  ye  shall  cry  out  in  that  day,  and  the 
Lord  will  not  hear  you." 

These  thoughts  made  me  very  wretched;  my 
only  consolation  was  in  knowing  that  my  sons  Fro- 
mel  and  Itzig  were  in  America.  I  resolved  to  send 
Safel,  David,  and  Esdras  there  also,  when  the  time 
should  come. 

These  reveries  lasted  till  daylight.  I  heard  no 
longer  the  shouts  of  laughter  or  the  jokes  of  the 
ragamuffins.  Now  and  then  they  would  come  and 
shake  me,  and  say,  "  Go,  Moses,  and  fill  your  brandy 
jug!  The  sergeant  gives  you  leave." 

But  I  did  not  wish  to  hear  them. 

About  four  o'clock  in  the  morning,  our  arsenal 
cannon  having  dismounted  the  Russian  howitzers 
on  the  Quatre- Vents  hill,  the  patrols  ceased. 

Exactly  at  seven  we  were  relieved.  We  went 
down,  one  by  one,  our  muskets  on  our  shoulders. 
"We  were  ranged  before  the  mayoralty,  and  Captain 


i8o  THE   BLOCKADE 

Vigneron  gave  the  orders :  "  Carry  arms!  Present 
arms!  Shoulder  arms!  Break  ranks!  " 

We  all  dispersed,  very  glad  to  get  rid  of  glory. 

I  was  going  to  run  at  once  to  the  casemates  when 
I  had  laid  aside  my  musket,  to  find  Sorle,  Zeffen, 
and  the  children;  but  what  was  my  joy  at  seeing 
little  Saf  el  already  at  our  door !  As  soon  as  he  saw 
me  turn  the  corner,  he  ran  to  me,  exclaiming:  "  We 
have  all  come  back !  We  are  waiting  for  you !  " 

I  stooped  to  embrace  him.  At  that  moment 
Zeffen  opened  the  window  above,  and  showed  me 
her  little  Esdras,  and  Sorle  stood  laughing  behind 
them.  I  went  up  quickly,  blessing  the  Lord  for 
having  delivered  us  from  all  our  troubles,  and  ex- 
claiming inwardly:  "  The  Lord  is  merciful  and 
gracious,  slow  to  anger  and  plenteous  in  mercy. 
Let  the  glory  of  the  Lord  endure  forever!  Let  the 
Lord  rejoice  in  his  works!  " 


xrv 

BTTEGUET'S  VISIT  TO  THE  DESERTER 

I  STILL  think  it  one  of  the  happiest  moments  of 
my  life,  Fritz.  Scarcely  had  I  come  up  the  stairs 
when  Zeffen  and  Sorle  were  in  my  arms;  the  little 
ones  clung  to  my  shoulders,  and  I  felt  their  lovely 
full  lips  on  my  cheeks;  Safel  held  my  hand,  and  I 
could  not  speak  a  word,  but  my  eyes  filled  with 
tears. 

Ah!  if  we  had  had  Baruch  with  us,  how  happy 
we  should  have  been! 

At  length  I  went  to  lay  aside  my  musket,  and 
hang  my  cartridge-box  in  the  alcove.  The  children 
were  laughing,  and  joy  was  in  the  house  once  more. 
And  when  I  came  back  in  my  old  beaver  cap,  and 
my  large,  warm  woollen  stockings,  and  sat  down  in 
the  old  arm-chair,  in  front  of  the  little  table  set 
with  porringers,  in  which  Zeffen  was  pouring  the 
soup;  when  I  was  again  in  the  midst  of  all  these 
happy  faces,  bright  eyes,  and  outstretched  hands,  I 
could  have  sung  like  an  old  lark  on  his  branch,  over 
'  181 


*82  THE    BLOCKADE 

the  nest  where  his  little  ones  were  opening  their 
beaks  and  flapping  their  wings. 

I  blessed  them  in  my  heart  a  hundred  times  over. 
Sorle,  who  saw  in  my  eyes  what  I  was  thinking, 
said:  "  They  are  all  together,  Moses,  just  as  they 
were  yesterday ;  the  Lord  has  preserved  them." 

"  Yes,  blessed  be  the  name  of  the  Lord,  forever 
and  ever !  "  I  replied. 

While  we  were  at  breakfast,  Zeffen  told  me  about 
their  going  to  the  large  casemate  at  the  barracks, 
how  it  was  full  of  people  stretched  on  their  mat- 
tresses in  every  direction — the  cries  of  some,  the 
fright  of  others,  the  torment  from  the  vermin,  the 
water  dropping  from  the  arch,  the  crowds  of  chil- 
dren who  could  not  sleep,  and  did  nothing  but  cry, 
the  lamentations  of  five  or  six  old  men  who  kept 
calling  out,  "  Ah !  our  last  hour  has  come !  Ah ! 
how  cold  it  is !  Ah !  we  shall  never  go  home — it  is 
all  over!  " 

Then  suddenly  the  deep  silence  of  all,  when  they 
heard  the  cannon  about  ten  o'clock — the  reports, 
coming  slowly  at  first,  then  like  the  roar  of  a  tem- 
pest— the  flashes,  which  could  be  seen  even  through 
the  blindages  of  the  gate,  and  old  Christine  Evig 
telling  her  beads  as  loud  as  if  she  were  in  a  proces- 
sion, and  the  other  women  responding  together. 

As  she  told  me  this,  Zeffen  clasped  her  little  Es- 


THE    BLOCKADE  183 

dras  tightly,  while  I  held  David  on  my  knees,  em- 
bracing him  as  I  thought  to  myself,  "  Yes,  my  poor 
children,  you  have  been  through  a  great  deal!  " 

Notwithstanding  the  joy  of  seeing  that  we  were 
all  safe,  the  thought  of  the  deserter  in  his  dungeon 
at  the  town-house  would  come  to  me;  he  too  had 
parents!  And  when  you  think  of  all  the  trouble 
which  a  father  and  mother  have  in  bringing  up  a 
child,  of  the  nights  spent  in  soothing  his  cries,  of 
their  cares  when  he  is  sick,  of  their  hopes  in  seeing 
him  growing  up ;  and  then  imagine  to  yourself  some 
old  soldiers  sitting  around  a  table  to  try  him,  and 
coolly  send  him  to  be  shot  behind  the  bastion,  it 
makes  you  shudder,  especially  when  you  say  to  your- 
self:  "  But  for  me,  this  boy  would  have  been  at  lib- 
erty; he  would  be  on  the  road  to  his  village;  to-mor- 
row perhaps  he  would  have  reached  the  poor  old 
people's  door,  and  have  called  out  to  them,  '  Open ! 
it  is  I!'" 

Such  thoughts  are  enough  to  make  one  wild. 

I  did  not  dare  to  speak  to  my  wife  and  children 
of  the  poor  fellow's  arrest;  I  kept  my  thoughts  to 
myself. 

Without,  the  detachments  from  La  Roulette, 
Trois-Maisons,  and  La  Fontaine-du-Chateau,  passed 
through  the  street,  keeping  step ;  groups  of  children 
ran  about  the  city  to  find  the  pieces  of  shells;  neigh- 


184  THE   BLOCKADE 

bors  collected  to  talk  about  the  events  of  the  night 
— the  roofs  torn  off,  chimneys  thrown  down,  the 
frights  they  had  had.  We  heard  their  voices  rising 
and  falling,  and  their  shouts  of  laughter.  And  I 
have  since  seen  that  it  is  always  the  same  thing  after 
a  bombardment;  the  shower  is  forgotten  as  soon  as 
it  is  over,  and  they  exclaim :  "  Huzza !  the  enemy  is 
routed!" 

"While  we  were  there  meditating,  some  one  came 
up  the  stairs.  We  listened,  and  our  sergeant,  with 
his  musket  on  his  shoulder,  and  his  cape  and  gaiters 
covered  with  mud,  opened  the  door,  exclaiming: 
"  Good  for  you,  Father  Moses!  Good  for  you! — 
You  distinguished  yourself  last  night !  " 

"  Ha!  what  is  it,  sergeant? "  asked  my  wife  in 
astonishment. 

"  What !  has  he  not  told  you  of  the  famous  thing 
he  did,  Madame  Sorle?  Has  he  not  told  you  that 
the  national  guard  Moses,  on  patrol  about  nine 
o'clock  at  the  Hospital  bastion,  discovered  and  then 
arrested  a  deserter  in  the  very  act!  It  is  on  Lieu- 
tenant Schnindret's  affidavit!  " 

"  But  I  was  not  alone,"  I  exclaimed  in  despair; 
"  there  were  four  of  us." 

"  Bah !  You  discovered  the  track,  you  went 
down  into  the  trenches,  you  carried  the  lantern  ! 
Father  Moses,  you  must  not  try  to  make  your  good 


THE    BLOCKADE  185 

deed  seem  less;  you  are  wrong.  You  are  going  to 
be  named  for  corporal.  The  court-martial  will  sit 
to-morrow  at  nine.  Be  easy,  they  will  take  care  of 
your  man !  " 

Imagine,  Fritz,  how  I  looked;  Sorle,  Zeffen,  and 
the  children  looked  at  me,  and  I  did  not  know  what 
to  say. 

"  Now  I  must  go  and  change  my  clothes,"  said 
the  sergeant,  shaking  my  hand.  "  We  will  talk 
about  it  again,  Father  Moses.  I  always  said  that 
you  would  turn  out  well  in  the  end." 

He  gave  a  low  laugh  as  was  his  custom,  winking 
his  eyes,  and  then  went  across  the  passage  into  his 
room.  * 

My  wife  was  very  pale. 

"  Is  it  true,  Moses?  "  she  asked  after  a  minute.  v 

"  He!  I  did  not  know  that  he  wanted  to  desert, 
Sorle,"  I  replied.  "  And  then  the  boy  ought  to 
have  looked  round  on  all  sides;  he  ought  to  have 
gone  down  on  the  Hospital  square,  gone  round  the 
dunghills,  and  even  into  the  lane  to  see  if  any  one 
was  coming;  he  brought  it  on  himself;  I  did  not 
know  anything,  I " 

But  Sorle  did  not  let  me  finish. 

"Run  quickly,  Moses,  to  Burguet's!  "  she  ex- 
claimed; "  if  this  man  is  shot,  his  blood  will  be  upon 
our  children.  Make  haste,  do  not  lose  a  minute." 


i86  THE   BLOCKADE 

She  raised  her  hands,  and  I  went  out,  much 
troubled. 

My  only  fear  was  that  I  should  not  find  Burguet 
at  home;  fortunately,  on  opening  his  door,  on  the 
first  floor  of  the  old  Cauchois  house,  I  saw  the  tall 
barber  Vesenaire  shaving  him,  in  the  midst  of  the 
old  books  and  papers  which  filled  the  room. 

Burguet  was  sitting  with  the  towel  at  his  chin. 

"  Ah !  It  is  you,  Moses !  "  he  exclaimed,  in  a  glad 
tone.  "  What  gives  me  the  pleasure  of  a  visit  from 
you? " 

"  I  come  to  ask  a  favor  of  you,  Burguet." 

"  If  it  is  for  money,"  said  he,  "  we  shall  have  diffi- 
culty." 

He  laughed,  and  his  servant-woman,  Marie 
Loriot,  who  heard  us  from  the  kitchen,  opened  the 
door,  and  thrust  her  red  head-gear  into  the  room, 
as  she  called  out,  "  I  think  that  we  shall  have  dif- 
ficulty! We  owe  Vesenaire  for  three  months' 
shaving;  do  not  we,  Vesenaire?" 

She  said  this  very  seriously,  and  Burguet,  instead 
of  being  angry,  began  to  laugh.  I  have  always 
fancied  that  a  man  of  his  talents  had  a  sort  of  need 
of  such  an  incarnation  of  human  stupidity  to  laugh 
at,  and  help  his  digestion.  He  never  was  willing  to 
dismiss  this  Marie  Loriot. 

In  short,  while  Vesenaire  kept  on  shaving  him,  I 


THE   BLOCKADE  187 

gave  him  an  account  of  our  patrol  and  the  arrest  of 
the  deserter;  and  begged  him  to  defend  the  poor 
fellow.  I  told  him  that  he  alone  was  able  to  save 
him,  and  restore  peace,  not  only  to  my  own  mind, 
but  to  Sorle,  Zeffen,  and  the  whole  family,  for  we 
were  all  in  great  distress,  and  we  depended  entirely 
upon  him  to  help  us. 

"Ah!  you  take  me  at  my  weak  point,  Moses!  If 
it  is  possible  for  me  to  save  this  man,  I  must  try. 
But  it  will  not  be  an  easy  matter.  During  the  last 
fortnight,  desertions  have  begun — the  court-martial 
wishes  to  make  an  example.  It  is  a  bad  business. 
You  have  money,  Moses;  give  Vesenaire  four  sous 
to  go  and  take  a  drop." 

I  gave  four  sous  to  Vesenaire,  who  made  a  grand 
bow  and  went  out.  Burguet  finished  dressing  him- 
self. 

"  Let  us  go  and  see!  "  said  he,  taking  me  by  the 
arm. 

And  we  went  down  together  on  our  way  to  the 
mayoralty. 

Many  years  have  passed  since  that  day.  Ah, 
well!  it  seems  now  as  if  we  were  going  under  the 
arch,  and  I  heard  Burguet  saying:  "  Hey,  sergeant! 
Tell  the  turnkey  that  the  prisoner's  advocate  is 
here." 

Harmantier  came,  bowed,  and  opened  the  door. 


i88  THE   BLOCKADE 

We  went  down  into  the  dungeon  full  of  stench,  and 
saw  in  the  right-hand  corner  a  figure  gathered  in  a 
heap  on  the  straw. 

"  Get  up!  "  said  Harmantier,  "  here  is  your  ad° 
vocate." 

The  poor  wretch  moved  and  raised  himself  in  the 
darkness.  Burguet  leaned  toward  him  and  said: 
"  Come !  Take  courage !  I  have  come  to  talk  with 
you  about  your  defence." 

And  the  other  began  to  sob. 

When  a  man  has  been  knocked  down,  torn  to  tat- 
ters, beaten  till  he  cannot  stand,  when  he  knows  that 
the  law  is  against  him,  that  he  must  die  without  see- 
ing those  whom  he  loves,  he  becomes  as  weak  as  a 
baby.  Those  who  maltreat  their  prisoners  are  great 
villains. 

"  Let  us  see !  "  said  Burguet.  "  Sit  down  on  the 
side  of  your  camp-bed.  What  is  your  name? 
Where  did  you  come  from  ?  Harmantier,  give  this 
man  a  little  water  to  drink  and  wash  himself!  " 

"  He  has  some,  M.  Burguet;  he  has  some  in  the 
corner." 

"Ah,  well!" 

"  Compose  yourself,  my  boy!  " 

The  more  gently  he  spoke,  the  more  did  the  poor 
fellow  weep.  At  last,  however,  he  said  that  his 
family  lived  near  Gerarmer,  in  the  Vosges;  that  his 


THE   BLOCKADE  189 

father's  name  was  Mathieu  Belin,  and  that  he  was 
a  fisherman  at  Retournemer. 

Burguet  drew  every  word  out  of  his  mouth;  he 
wanted  to  know  every  particular  about  his  father 
and  mother,  his  brothers  and  sisters. 

I  remember  that  his  father  had  served  under  the 
Republic,  and  had  even  been  wounded  at  Fleurus; 
that  his  oldest  brother  had  died  in  Russia;  that  he 
himself  was  the  second  son  taken  from  home  by  the 
conscription,  and  that  there  was  still  at  home  three 
sisters  younger  than  himself. 

This  came  from  him  slowly;  he  was  so  prostrated 
by  AVinter's  blows,  that  he  moved  and  sank  down 
like  a  soulless  body. 

There  was  still  another  thing,  Fritz,  as  you  may 
think — the  boy  was  young !  and  that  brought  to  my 
mind  the  days  when  I  used  to  go  in  two  hours  from 
Phalsburg  to  Marmoutier,  to  see  Sorle — Ah,  poor 
wretch !  As  he  told  all  this,  sobbing,  with  his  face 
in  his  hands,  my  heart  melted  within  me. 

Burguet  was  quite  overcome.  When  we  were 
leaving,  at  the  end  of  an  hour,  he  said,  "  Come,  let 
us  be  hopeful!  You  will  be  tried  to-morrow. — 
Don't  despair !  Harmantier,  we  must  give  this  man 
a  cloak ;  it  is  dreadfully  cold,  especially  at  night.  It 
is  a  bad  business,  my  boy,  but  it  is  not  hopeless. 
Try  to  appear  as  well  as  you  can  before  the  audi- 


I9o  THE   BLOCKADE 

ence;  the  court-martial  always  thinks  better  of  a 
man  who  is  well  dressed." 

When  we  were  out,  he  said  to  me :  "  Moses,  you 
send  the  man  a  clean  shirt.  His  waistcoat  is  torn; 
don't  forget  to  have  him  decently  dressed  every 
way;  soldiers  always  judge  of  a  man  by  his  appear- 
ance." 

"  Be  easy  about  that,"  said  I. 

The  prison  doors  were  closed,  and  we  went  across 
the  market. 

"  Now,"  said  Burguet,  "  I  must  go  in.  I  must 
think  it  over.  It  is  well  that  the  brother  was  left  in 
Russia,  and  that  the  father  has  been  in  the  service — 
it  is  something  to  make  a  point  of." 

We  had  reached  the  corner  of  the  rampart  street; 
he  kept  on,  and  I  went  home  more  miserable  than 
before. 

You  cannot  imagine,  Fritz,  how  troubled  I  was; 
when  a  man  has  always  had  a  quiet  conscience  it  is 
terrible  to  reproach  one's  self,  and  think:  "  If  this 
man  is  shot,  if  his  father,  and  mother,  and  sisters, 
and  that  other  one,  who  is  expecting  him,  are  made 
miserable,  thou,  Moses,  wilt  be  the  cause  of  it  all !  " 

Fortunately  there  was  no  lack  of  work  to  be  done 
at  home ;  Sorle  had  just  opened  the  old  shop  to  begin 
to  sell  our  brandies,  and  it  was  full  of  people.  For 
a  week  the  keepers  of  coffee-houses  and  inns  had  had 


THE   BLOCKADE  191 

nothing  wherewith  to  fill  their  casks;  they  were  on 
the  point  of  shutting  up  shop.  Imagine  the  crowd ! 
They  came  in  a  row,  with  their  jugs  and  little  casks 
and  pitcheis.  The  old  topers  came  too,  sticking  out 
their  elbows;  Sorle,  Zeffen,  and  Safel  had  not  time 
to  serve  them. 

The  sergeant  said  that  we  must  put  a  policeman 
at  our  door  to  prevent  quarrels,  for  some  of  them 
said  that  they  lost  their  turn,  and  that  their  money 
was  as  good  as  anybody's. 

It  will  be  a  good  many  years  before  such  a  crowd 
will  be  seen  again  in  front  of  a  Phalsburg  shop. 

I  had  only  time  to  tell  my  wife  that  Burguet 
would  defend  the  deserter,  and  then  went  down  into 
the  cellar  to  fill  the  two  tuns  at  the  counter,  which 
were  already  empty. 

A  fortnight  after,  Sorle  doubled  the  price;  our 
first  two  pipes  were  sold,  and  this  extra  price  did  not 
lessen  the  demand. 

Men  always  find  money  for  brandy  and  tobacco, 
even  when  they  have  none  left  for  bread.  This  is 
why  governments  impose  their  heaviest  taxes  upon 
these  two  articles;  they  might  be  heavier  still  with- 
out diminishing  their  use — only,  children  would 
starve  to  death. 

I  have  seen  this — I  have  seen  this  great  folly  in 
men,  and  I  am  astonished  whenever  I  think  of  it 


I92  THE   BLOCKADE 

That  day  we  kept  on  selling  until  seven  o'clock  in 
the  evening,  when  the  tattoo  was  sounded. 

My  pleasure  in  making  money  had  made  me  for- 
get the  deserter;  I  did  not  think  of  him  again  till  af- 
ter supper,  when  night  set  in;  but  I  did  not  say  a 
word  about  him ;  we  were  all  so  tired  and  so  delight- 
ed with  the  day's  profits  that  we  did  not  want  to  be 
troubled  with  thinking  of  such  things.  But  after 
Zeffen  and  the  children  had  retired,  I  told  Sorle  of 
our  visit  to  the  prisoner.  I  told  her,  too,  that  Bur- 
guet  had  hopes,  which  made  her  very  happy. 

About  nine  o'clock,  by  God's  blessing,  we  were 
all  asleep. 


XV 

TRIAL  OF  THE  DESERTER 

You  can  believe,  Fritz,  that  I  did  not  sleep 
much  that  night,  notwithstanding  my  fatigue.  The 
thought  of  the  deserter  tormented  me.  I  knew  that 
if  he  should  be  shot,  Zeffen  and  Sorle  would  be  in- 
consolable ;  and  I  knew,  too,  that  after  three  or  four 
years  the  vile  race  would  say :  "  Look  at  this  Moses, 
with  his  large  brown  cloak,  his  cape  turned  down 
over  the  back  of  his  neck,  and  his  respectable  look — 
well,  during  the  blockade  he  caused  the  arrest  of  a 
poor  deserter,  who  was  shot :  so  much  you  can  trust 
a  Jew's  appearance !  " 

They  would  have  said  this,  undoubtedly;  for  the 
only  consolation  of  villains  is  to  make  people  think 
that  everybody  is  like  themselves. 

And  then  how  often  should  I  reproach  myself  for 
this  man's  death,  in  times  of  misfortune  or  in  my 
old  age,  when  I  should  not  have  a  minute's  peace ! 
How  often  should  I  have  said  that  it  was  a  judgment 
of  the  Lord,  that  it  was  on  account  of  this  deserter. 
13  193 


I94  THE   BLOCKADE 

So  I  wanted  to  do  immediately  all  that  I  could, 
and  by  six  o'clock  in  the  morning  I  was  in  my  old 
ghop  in  the  market  with  my  lantern,  selecting  epau- 
lettes and  my  best  clothes.  I  put  them  in  a  napkin 
and  took  them  to  Harmantier  at  daybreak. 

The  special  council  of  war,  which  was  called — I 
do  not  know  why — the  Ventose  council,  was  to  meet 
at  nine  o'clock.  It  was  composed  of  a  major,  presi- 
dent, four  captains,  and  two  lieutenants.  Mon- 
brun,  the  captain  of  the  foreign  legion,  was  judge- 
advocate,  and  Brigadier  Duphot  recorder. 

It  was  astonishing  how  the  whole  city  knew  about 
it  beforehand,  and  that  by  seven  o'clock  the  Nic- 
aises,  and  Pigots,  and  Vinatiers,  etc.,  had  left  their 
rickety  quarters,  and  had  already  filled  the  whole 
mayoralty,  the  arch,  the  stairway,  and  the  large 
room  above,  laughing,  whistling,  stamping,  as  if  it 
were  a  bear-fight  at  Klein's  inn,  the  "  Ox." 

You  do  not  see  things  like  that  nowadays,  thank 
God!  men  have  become  more  gentle  and  humane. 
But  after  all  these  wars,  a  deserter  met  with  less  pity 
than  a  fox  caught  in  a  trap,  or  a  wolf  led  by  the 
muzzle. 

As  I  saw  all  this,  my  courage  failed;  all  my  ad- 
miration for  Burguet's  talents  could  not  keep  me 
from  thinking: 

The  man  is  lost!     "Who  can  save  him,  when  this 


THE   BLOCKADE  195 

crowd  has  come  on  purpose  to  see  him  condemned  to 
death,  and  led  to  the  Glaciere  bastion? 

I  was  overwhelmed  by  the  thought. 

I  went  trembling  into  Harmantier's  little  room, 
and  said  to  him:  "  This  is  for  the  deserter;  take  it 
to  him  from  me."  "  All  right!  "  said  he. 

I  asked  him  if  he  had  confidence  in  Burguet. 
He  shrugged  his  shoulders,  and  said:  "We  must 
have  examples." 

The  stamping  outside  continued,  and  when  I  went 
out  there  was  a  great  whistling  in  the  balcony,  the 
arch,  and  everywhere,  and  shouts  of  "  Moses !  hey, 
Moses !  this  way !  " 

But  I  did  not  turn  my  head,  and  went  home  very 
sad. 

Sorle  handed  me  a  summons  to  appear  as  a  wit- 
ness before  the  court-martial,  which  a  gendarme  had 
just  brought;  and  till  nine  o'clock  I  sat  meditating 
behind  the  stove,  trying  to  think  of  some  way  of 
escape  for  the  prisoner. 

Safel  was  playing  with  the  children;  Zeffen  and 
Sorle  had  gone  down  to  continue  our  sales. 

A  few  minutes  before  nine  I  started  for  the  town- 
house,  which  was  already  so  crowded  that,  had  it  not 
been  for  the  guard  at  the  door,  and  the  gendarmes 
scattered  within  the  building,  the  witnesses  could 
hardly  have  got  in. 


196  THE   BLOCKADE 

N 

Just  as  I  got  there,. Captain  Monbrun  was  begin- 
ning to  read  his  report.  Burguet  sat  opposite,  with 
his  head  leaning  on  his  hand. 

They  showed  me  into  a  little  room,  where  were 
Winter,  Chevreux,  Dubourg,  and  the  gendarme 
Fiegel;  so  that  we  didn't  hear  anything  before  being 
called. 

On  the  wall  at  the  right  it  was  written  in  large 
letters  that  any  witness  who  did  not  tell  the  truth, 
should  be  delivered  to  the  council,  and  suffer  the 
same  penalty  as  the  accused.  This  made  one  con- 
sider, and  I  resolved  at  once  to  conceal  nothing,  as 
was  right  and  sensible.  The  gendarme  also  in- 
formed us  that  we  were  forbidden  to  speak  to  each 
other. 

After  a  quarter  of  an  hour  "Winter  was  sum- 
moned, and  then,  at  intervals  of  ten  minutes,  Chev- 
reux, Dubourg,  and  myself. 

When  I  went  into  the  court-room,  the  judges 
were  all  in  their  places;  the  major  had  laid  his  hat 
on  the  desk  before  him;  the  recorder  was  mending 
his  pen.  Burguet  looked  at  me  calmly.  Without 
they  were  stamping,  and  the  major  said  to  the  briga- 
dier: 

"  Inform  the  public  that  if  this  noise  continues,  I 
ghall  have  the  mayoralty  cleared." 


THE   BLOCKADE  19; 

The  brigadier  went  out  at  once,  and  the  major 
said  to  me : 

"  National  guard  Moses,  make  your  deposition. 
What  do  you  know  ?  " 

I  told  it  all  simply.  The  deserter  at  the  left,  be- 
tween two  gendarmes,  seemed  more  dead  than  alive. 
I  would  gladly  have  acquitted  him  of  everything; 
but  when  a  man  fears  for  himself,  when  old  officers 
in  full  dress  are  scowling  at  you  as  if  they  could  see 
through  you,  the  simplest  and  best  way  is  not  to  lie. 
A  father's  first  thought  should  be  for  his  chil- 
dren !  In  short,  I  told  everything  that  I  had  seen, 
nothing  more  or  less,  and  at  last  the  major  said  to 
me: 

"  That  is  enough;  you  may  go." 

But  seeing  that  the  others,  Winter,  Chevreux, 
Dubourg,  remained  sitting  on  a  bench  at  the  left,  I 
did  the  same. 

Almost  immediately  five  or  six  good-for-nothings 
began  to  stamp  and  murmur,  "  Shoot  him!  shoot 
him!  "  The  president  ordered  the  brigadier  to  ar- 
rest them,  and  in  spite  of  their  resistance  they  were 
all  led  to  prison.  Silence  was  then  established  in 
the  court-room,  but  the  stampings  without  con- 
tinued. 

"  Judge-advocate,  it  is  your  turn  to  speak,"  said 
the  major. 


198  THE   BLOCKADE 

This  judge-advocate,  who  seems  now  before  my 
eyes,  and  whom  I  can  almost  hear  speak,  was  a  man 
of  fifty,  short  and  thick,  with  a  short  neck,  long, 
thick,  straight  nose,  very  wide  forehead,  shining 
black  hair,  thin  mustaches,  and  bright  eyes.  While 
he  was  listening,  his  head  turned  right  and  left  as  if 
on  a  pivot;  you  could  see  his  long  nose  and  the  cor- 
ner of  his  eye,  but  his  elbows  did  not  stir  from  the 
table.  He  looked  like  one  of  those  large  crows 
which  seem  to  be  sleeping  in  the  fields  at  the  close 
of  autumn,  and  yet  see  everything  that  is  going  on 
around  them. 

Now  and  then  he  raised  his  arm  as  if  to  draw 
back  his  sleeve,  as  advocates  have  a  way  of  doing. 
He  was  in  full  dress,  and  spoke  terribly  well,  in  a 
clear  and  strong  voice,  stopping  and  looking  at  the 
people  to  see  if  they  agreed  with  him;  and  if  he 
saw  even  a  slight  grimace,  he  began  again  at  once 
in  some  other  way,  and,  as  it  were,  obliged  you  to 
understand  in  spite  of  yourself. 

As  he  went  on  very  slowly,  without  hurrying 
or  forgetting  anything,  to  show  that  the  deserter 
was  on  the  road  when  we  arrested  him,  that  he  not 
only  had  the  intention  of  escaping,  but  was  already 
outside  of  the  city,  quite  as  guilty  as  if  he  had  been 
found  in  the  ranks  of  the  enemy — as  he  clearly 
showed  all  this,  I  was  angry  because  he  was  right, 


THE   BLOCKADE  199 

and  I  thought  to  myself,  "  Now,  what  was  there  to 
be  said  in  reply." 

And  then,  when  he  said  that  the  greatest  of  crimes 
was  to  abandon  one's  flag,  because  one  betrays  at 
once  his  country,  his  family,  all  that  has  a  right  to 
his  life,  and  makes  himself  unworthy  to  live ;  when 
he  said  that  the  court  would  follow  the  conscience 
of  all  who  had  a  heart,  of  all  who  held  to  the  honor 
of  France;  that  he  would  give  a  new  example  of 
his  zeal  for  the  safety  of  the  country  and  the  glory 
of  the  Emperor;  that  he  would  show  the  new  re- 
cruits that  they  could  only  succeed  by  doing  their 
duty  and  by  obeying  orders;  when  he  said  all  this 
with  terrible  power  and  clearness,  and  I  heard  from 
time  to  time,  a  murmur  of  assent  and  admiration, 
then,  Fritz,  I  thought  that  the  Lord  alone  was  able 
to  save  that  man! 

The  deserter  sat  motionless,  his  arms  folded  on 
the  dock,  and  his  face  upon  them.  He  felt,  doubt- 
less, as  I  did,  and  every  one  in  the  room,  and  the 
court  itself.  Those  old  men  seemed  pleased  as  they 
heard  the  judge-advocate  express  so  well  what  had 
all  along  been  their  own  opinion.  Their  faces 
showed  their  satisfaction. 

This  lasted  for  more  than  an  hour.  The  captain 
sometimes  stopped  a  moment  to  give  his  audience 
time  to  reflect  on  what  he  had  said.  I  have  always 


200  THE   BLOCKADE 

thought  that  he  must  have  been  attorney-general, 
or  something  more  dangerous  still  to  deserters. 

I  remember  that  he  said,  in  closing,  "  You  will 
make  an  example !  You  will  be  of  one  mind.  You 
will  not  forget  that,  at  this  time,  firmness  in  the 
court  is  more  necessary  than  ever  to  the  safety  of 
the  country." 

When  he  sat  down,  such  a  murmur  of  approba- 
tion arose  in  the  room  that  it  reached  the  stairway 
at  once,  and  we  heard  the  shouts  outside,  "  Vive 
VEmpereur!" 

The  major  and  the  other  members  of  the  council 
looked  smilingly  at  each  other,  as  if  to  say,  "  It  is 
all  settled.  What  remains  is  a  mere  formality !  " 

The  shouts  without  increased.  This  lasted  more 
than  ten  minutes.  At  last  the  major  said: 

"  Brigadier,  if  the  tumult  continues,  clear  the 
town-house!  Begin  with  the  court-room!  " 

There  was  silence  at  once,  for  every  ojie  was 
curious  to  know  what  Burguet  would  say  in  reply. 
I  would  not  have  given  two  farthings  for  the  life  of 
the  deserter. 

"  Counsel  for  the  prisoner,  you  have  the  floor!  " 
said  the  major,  and  Burguet  rose. 

!N"ow,  Fritz,  if  I  had  an  idea  that  I  could  repeat 
to  you  what  Burguet  said,  for  a  whole  hour,  to  save 
the  life  of  a  poor  conscript;  if  I  should  try  to  depict 


BURGCET- 


THE   BLOCKADE  201 

his  face,  the  sweetness  of  his  voice,  and  then  his 
heart-rending  cries,  and  then  his  silent  pauses  and 
his  appeals — if  I  had  such  an  idea,  I  should  consider 
myself  a  being  full  of  pride  and  vanity ! 

No;  nothing  finer  was  ever  heard.  It  was  not  a 
man  speaking;  it  was  a  mother,  trying  to  snatch  her 
babe  from  death !  Ah !  what  a  great  thing  it  is  to 
have  this  power  of  moving  to  tears  those  who 
hear  us!  But  we  ought  not  to  call  it  talent,  it  is 
heart. 

"  Who  is  there  without  faults?  Who  does  not 
need  pity? " 

This  is  what  he  said,  as  he  asked  the  council  if 
they  could  find  a  perfectly  blameless  man;  if  evil 
thoughts  never  came  to  the  bravest;  if  they  had 
never,  for  even  a  day  or  a  moment,  had  the  thought 
of  running  away  to  their  native  village,  when  they 
were  young,  when  they  were  eighteen,  when  father 
and  mother  and  the  friends  of  their  childhood  were 
living,  and  they  had  not  another  in  the  world.  A 
poor  child  without  instruction,  without  knowledge 
of  the  world,  brought  up  at  hap-hazard,  thrown  into 
the  army — what  could  you  expect  of  him?  What 
fault  of  his  could  not  be  pardoned?  What  does  he 
know  of  country,  the  honor  of  his  flag,  the  glory  of 
his  Majesty?  Is  it  not  later  in  life  that  these  great 
ideas  come  to  him? 


202  THE    BLOCKADE 

And  then  he  asked  those  old  men  if  they  had  not 
a  son,  if  they  were  sure  that,  even  at  that  moment, 
that  son  were  not  committing  an  offence  which  was 
liable  to  the  punishment  of  death.  He  said  to 
them: 

"Plead  for  him!  What  would  you  say?  You 
would  say,  '  I  am  an  old  soldier.  For  thirty  years  I 
have  shed  my  blood  for  France.  I  have  grown  gray 
upon  the  battle-fields,  I  am  riddled  with  wounds,  I 
have  gained  every  rank  at  the  point  of  the  sword. 
Ah,  well !  take  my  epaulettes,  take  my  decorations, 
take  everything;  but  save  my  child !  Let  my  blood 
be  the  ransom  for  his  offence!  He  does  not  know 
the  greatness  of  his  crime;  he  is  too  young;  he  is 
a  conscript;  he  loved  us;  he  longed  to  embrace  us, 
and  then  go  back  again — he  loved  a  maiden.  Ah! 
you,  too,  have  been  young!  Pardon  him.  Do  not 
disgrace  an  old  soldier  in  his  son.' 

"  Perhaps  you  could  say,  too,  '  I  had  other  sons. 
They  died  for  their  country.  Let  their  blood  an- 
swer for  his,  and  give  me  back  this  one — the  last 
that  I  have  left! ' 

"  This  is  what  you  would  say,  and  far  better  than 
I,  because  you  would  be  the  father,  the  old  soldier 
speaking  of  his  own  services!  Well,  the  father  of 
this  youth  could  speak  like  you !  He  is  an  old  sol- 
dier of  the  Republic!  He  went  with  you,  perhaps, 


THE   BLOCKADE  203 

when  the  Prussians  entered  Champagne!  He  was 
wounded  at  Fleurus!  He  is  an  old  comrade  in 
arms !  His  oldest  son  was  left  behind  in  Russia !  " 

And  Burguet  turned  pale  as  he  spoke.  It  seemed 
as  if  grief  had  robbed  him  of  his  strength,  and  he 
were  about  to  fall.  The  silence  was  so  great  that 
we  heard  the  breathing  throughout  the  court-room. 
The  deserter  sobbed.  Everybody  thought,  "  It  is 
done!  Burguet  need  say  no  more!  It  must  be 
that  he  has  gained  his  cause !  " 

But  all  at  once  he  began  again  in  another  and 
more  tender  manner.  Speaking  slowly,  he  described 
the  life  of  a  poor  peasant  and  his  wife,  who  had  but 
one  comfort,  one  solitary  hope  on  earth — their 
child !  As  we  listened  we  saw  these  poor  people,  we 
heard  them  talk  together,  we  saw  over  the  door  the 
old  chapeau  of  the  time  of  the  Republic.  And  when 
we  were  thinking  only  of  this,  suddenly  Burguet 
showed  us  the  old  man  and  his  wife  learning  that 
their  son  had  been  killed,  not  by  Russians  or  Ger- 
mans, but  by  Frenchmen.  We  heard  the  old  man's 
cry! 

But  it  was  terrible,  Fritz!  I  wanted  to  run 
away.  The  officers  of  the  council,  several  of  whom 
were  married  men,  looked  before  them  with  fixed 
eyes,  and  clinched  hands;  their  gray  mustaches 
shook.  The  major  had  raised  his  hand  two  or  three 


204  THE   BLOCKADE 

times,  as  if  to  signify  that  it  was  enough,  but  Bur- 
guet  had  always  something  still  more  powerful, 
more  just,  more  grand  to  add.  His  plea  lasted  till 
nearly  eleven,  when  he  sat  down.  There  was  not  a 
murmur  to  be  heard  in  the  three  rooms  nor  outside. 
And  the  judge-advocate  on  the  other  side  began 
again,  saying  that  all  that  signified  nothing,  that  it 
was  unfortunate  for  the  father  that  his  son  was  un- 
worthy, that  every  man  clung  to  his  children,  that 
soldiers  must  be  taught  not  to  desert  in  face  of  the 
enemy;  that,  if  the  court  yielded  to  such  arguments, 
nobody  would  ever  be  shot,  discipline  would  be 
utterly  destroyed,  the  army  could  not  exist,  and 
that  the  army  was  the  strength  and  glory  of  the 
country. 

Burguet  replied  almost  immediately.  I  cannot 
recall  what  he  said;  my  head  could  not  hold  so 
many  things  at  once :  but  I  shall  never  forget  this, 
that  about  one  o'clock,  the  council  having  sent  us 
away  that  they  might  deliberate  —  the  prisoner 
meanwhile  having  been  taken  back  to  his  cell — 
after  a  few  minutes  we  were  allowed  to  return,  and 
the  major,  standing  on  the  platform  where  conscrip- 
tions were  drawn,  declared  that  the  accused  Jean 
Balin  was  acquitted,  and  gave  the  order  for  his 
immediate  release. 

It  was  the  first  acquittal  since  the  departure  of 


THE   BLOCKADE  205 

the  Spanish  prisoners  before  the  blockade;  the 
rowdies,  who  had  come  in  crowds  to  see  a  man  con- 
demned and  shot,  could  not  believe  it;  several  of 
them  exclaimed:  "  We  are  cheated!  " 

But  the  major  ordered  Brigadier  Descarmes  to 
take  the  names  of  these  brawlers,  so  that  they  should 
be  seen  to;  then  the  whole  mass  trampled  down  the 
stairs  in  five  minutes,  and  we,  in  our  turn,  were  able 
to  descend. 

I  had  taken  Burguet  by  the  arm,  my  eyes  full  of 
tears. 

"Are  you  satisfied,  Moses?"  said  he,  already 
quite  his  own  joyous  self  again. 

"Burguet!  "  said  I,  "Aaron  himself,  the  own 
brother  of  Moses,  and  the  greatest  orator  of  Israel, 
could  not  have  spoken  better  than  you  did;  it  was 
admirable !  I  owe  my  peace  of  mind  to  you !  What- 
ever you  may  ask  for  so  great  a  service  I  am  ready 
to  give  to  the  extent  of  my  means." 

We  went  down  the  stairs;  the  members  of  the 
council  following  us  thoughtfully,  one  by  one.  Bur- 
guet smiled. 

"  Do  you  mean  it,  Moses?  "  said  he,  stopping  un- 
der the  arch. 

"  Yes,  here  is  my  hand." 

"  Very  well!  "  said  he,  "  I  ask  you  to  give  me 
a  good  dinner  a  u  the  Ville-de-Metz." 


206  THE   BLOCKADE 

"With  all  my  heart!" 

Several  citizens,  Father  Parmentier,  Cochois  the 
tax-gatherer,  and  Adjutant  Muller,  were  waiting  for 
Burguet  at  the  foot  of  the  mayoralty  steps,  to  con- 
gratulate him.  As  they  were  surrounding  and  shak- 
ing hands  with  him,  Saf  el  came  and  rushed  into  my 
arms;  Zeffen  had  sent  him  to  learn  the  news.  I 
embraced  him,  and  said  joyously:  "  Go,  tell  your 
mother  that  we  have  won!  Take  your  dinner.  I 
am  going  to  dine  at  the  Ville-de-Metz  with  Burguet. 
Make  haste,  my  child !  " 

He  started  running. 

"  You  dine  with  me,  Burguet,"  said  Father  Par- 
mentier. 

"  Thank  you,  Mr.  Mayor,  I  am  engaged  to  dine 
with  Moses ;  I  will  go  at  another  time." 

And,  with  our  arms  around  each  other,  we  en- 
tered Mother  Barriere's  large  corridor,  where  there 
was  still  the  odor  of  good  roasts,  in  spite  of  the 
blockade. 

"  Listen,  Burguet,"  said  I;  "we  are  going  to  dine 
alone,  and  you  shall  choose  whatever  wines  and 
dishes  you  like  best;  you  know  them  better  than  I 
do." 

I  saw  his  eyes  sparkle. 

"  Good !   good !  "  said  he,  "  it  is  understood." 

In  the  large  dining-hall  the  war-commissioner  and 


THE   BLOCKADE  207 

two  officers  were  dining  together;  they  turned 
round,  and  we  saluted  them. 

I  sent  for  Mother  Barriere,  who  came  at  once,  her 
apron  on  her  arm,  as  smiling  and  chubby  as  usual. 
Burguet  whispered  a  couple  of  words  in  her  ear, 
and  she  instantly  opened  the  door  at  the  right,  and 
said: 

"  Walk  in,  gentlemen,  walk  in !  You  will  not 
have  to  wait  long." 

We  went  into  the  square  room  at  the  corner  of 
the  square,  a  small,  high  room,  with  two  large  win- 
dows covered  with  muslin  curtains,  and  the  porce- 
lain stove  well  heated,  as  it  should  be  in  winter. 

A  servant  came  to  lay  the  table,  while  we  warmed 
our  hands  upon  the  marble. 

"I  have  a  good  appetite,  Moses;  my  plead- 
ing is  going  to  cost  you  dear,"  said  Burguet, 
laughing. 

"  So  much  the  better;  it  cannot  be  too  dear  for 
the  gratitude  I  owe  you." 

"  Come,"  said  he,  putting  his  hand  on  my  shoul- 
der, "  I  won't  ruin  you,  but  we  must  have  a  good 
dinner." 

When  the  table  was  ready,  we  sat  down,  opposite 
each  other,  in  soft,  comfortable  arm-chairs;  and 
Burguet,  fastening  his  napkin  in  his  button-hole,  as 
was  his  custom,  took  up  the  bill  of  fare.  He  pon- 


zo8  THE   BLOCKADE 

dered  over  it  a  long  time;  for  you  know,  Fritz,  that 
though  nightingales  are  good  singers,  they  have 
the  sharpest  beaks  in  the  world.  Burguet  was  like 
them,  and  I  was  delighted  at  seeing  him  thus  medi- 
tating. 

At  last  he  said  to  the  servant,  slowly  and  sol 
emnly: 

"  This  and  that,  Madeleine,  cooked  so  and  so. 
And  such  a  wine  to  begin  with,  and  such  another  at 
the  end." 

"  Very  well,  M.  Burguet,"  replied  Madeleine,  as 
she  went  out. 

Two  minutes  afterward  she  brought  us  a  good 
toast  soup.  During  a  blockade  this  was  something 
greatly  to  be  desired;  three  weeks  later  we  should 
have  been  very  fortunate  to  have  got  one. 

Then  she  brought  us  some  Bordeaux  wine, 
warmed  in  a  napkin.  But  you  do  not  suppose, 
Fritz,  that  I  am  going  to  tell  you  all  the  details 
of  this  dinner?  although  I  remember  it  all,  with 
great  pleasure,  to  this  day.  Believe  me,  there  was 
nothing  wanting,  meats  nor  fresh  vegetables,  nor 
the  large  well-smoked  ham,  nor  any  of  the  things 
which  are  dreadfully  scarce  in  a  shut-up  city.  We 
had  even  salad!  Madame  Barriere  had  kept  it  in 
the  cellar,  in  earth,  and  Burguet  wished  to  dress  it 
himself  with  olive  oil.  We  had,  too,  the  last  juicy 


THE   BLOCKADE 


209 


pears  which  were  seen  in  Phalsburg,  during  that 
winter  of  1814. 

Burguet  seemed  happy,  especially  when  the  bot- 
tle of  old  Lironcourt  was  brought,  and  we  drank 
together. 

"  Moses,"  said  he  with  softened  eyes,  "  if  all  my 
pleas  had  as  good  pay  as  you  give,  I  would  resign 
my  place  in  college ;  but  this  is  the  first  fee  I  have 
received." 

"  And  if  I  were  in  your  place,  Burguet,"  I  ex- 
claimed, "  instead  of  staying  in  Phalsburg,  I  would 
go  to  a  large  city.  You  would  have  plenty  of  good 
dinners,  good  hotels,  and  the  rest  would  soon  fol- 
low." 

"  Ah !  twenty  years  ago  this  might  have  been 
good  advice,"  said  he,  rising,  "  but  it  is  too  late  now. 
Let  us  go  and  take  our  coffee,  Moses." 

Thus  it  is  that  men  of  great  talents  often  bury 
themselves  in  small  places,  where  nobody  values 
them  at  their  true  worth;  they  fall  gradually 
into  their  own  ruts,  and  disappear  without 
notice. 

Burguet  never  forgot  to  go  to  the  coffee-house  at 
about  five  o'clock,  to  play  a  game  of  cards  with  the 
old  Jew  Solomon,  whose  trade  it  was.  Burguet  and 
five  or  six  citizens  fully  supported  this  man,  who 
took  his  beer  and  coffee  twice  a  day  at  their  expense, 

14 


210  THE   BLOCKADE 

to  say  nothing  of  the  crowns  he  pocketed  for  the 
support  of  his  family. 

So  far  as  the  others  were  concerned,  I  was  not 
surprised  at  this,  for  they  were  fools !  but  for  a  man 
like  Burguet  I  was  always  astonished  at  it;  for,  out 
of  twenty  deals,  Solomon  did  not  let  them  win  more 
than  one  or  two,  with  the  risk  before  his  eyes  of 
losing  his  best  practice,  by  discouraging  them  alto- 
gether. 

I  had  explained  this  fifty  times  to  Burguet;  he 
assented,  and  kept  on  all  the  same. 

When  we  reached  the  coffee-house,  Solomon  was 
already  there,  in  the  corner  of  a  window  at  the  left 
— his  little  dirty  cap  on  his  nose,  and  his  old  greasy 
frock  hanging  at  the  foot  of  the  stool.  He  was 
shuffling  the  cards  all  by  himself.  He  looked  at 
Burguet  out  of  the  corner  of  his  eye,  as  a  bird- 
catcher  looks  at  larks,  as  if  to  say: 

"  Come !    I  am  here !    I  am  expecting  you !  " 

But  Burguet,  when  with  me,  dared  not  obey  the 
old  man;  he  was  ashamed  of  his  weakness,  and 
merely  made  a  little  motion  of  his  head  while  he 
seated  himself  at  the  opposite  table,  where  coffee 
was  served  to  us. 

The  comrades  came  soon,  and  Solomon  began  to 
fleece  them.  Burguet  turned  his  back  to  them;  I 
tried  to  divert  his  attention,  but  his  heart  was  with 


THE   BLOCKADE  211 

them;  lie  listened  to  all  the  throws,  and  yawned  in 
his  hand. 

About  seven  o'clock,  when  the  room  was  full  of 
smoke,  and  the  balls  were  rolling  on  the  billiard 
tables,  suddenly  a  young  man,  a  soldier,  entered, 
looking  round  in  all  directions. 

It  was  the  deserter. 

He  saw  us  at  last,  and  approached  us  with  his 
foraging  cap  in  his  hand.  Burguet  looked  up  and 
recognized  him;  I  saw  him  turn  red;  the  deserter, 
on  the  contrary,  was  very  pale;  he  tried  to  speak, 
but  could  not  say  a  word. 

"  Ah!  my  friend !  "  said  Burguet,  "  here  you  are, 
safe!" 

"  Yes,  sir,"  replied  the  conscript,  "  and  I  have 
come  to  thank  you  for  myself,  for  my  father,  and 
for  my  mother!  " 

"  Ah!  "  said  Burguet,  coughing,  "  it  is  all  right! 
it  is  all  right!" 

He  looked  tenderly  at  the  young  man,  and  asked 
him  softly,  "  You  are  glad  to  live?  " 

"  Oh !  yes,  sir,"  replied  the  conscript,  "  very 
glad." 

"  Yes,"  said  Burguet,  in  a  low  voice,  looking  at 
the  clock;  "it  would  have  been  all  over  now! 
Poor  child!" 

And  suddenly  beginning  to  use  the  thou  he  said, 


212  THE   BLOCKADE 

"  Thou  hast  had  nothing  with  which  to  drink  my 
health,  and  I  have  not  another  sou.  Moses,  give 
him  a  hundred  sous." 

I  gave  him  ten  francs.  The  deserter  tried  to 
thank  me. 

"  That  is  good !  "  said  Burguet,  rising.  "  Go  and 
take  a  drink  with  thy  comrades.  Be  happy,  and  do 
not  desert  again." 

He  made  as  if  he  would  follow  Solomon's  play- 
ing; but  when  the  deserter  said,  "  I  thank  you,  too, 
for  her  who  is  expecting  me !  "  he  looked  at  me  side- 
ways, not  knowing  what  to  answer,  so  much  was  he 
moved.  Then  I  said  to  the  conscript,  "  We  are 
very  glad  that  we  have  been  of  assistance  to  you; 
go  and  drink  the  health  of  your  advocate,  and  be- 
have yourself  well." 

He  looked  at  us  for  a  moment  longer,  as  if  he 
were  unable  to  move ;  we  saw  his  thanks  in  his  face, 
a  thousand  times  better  than  he  had  been  able  to 
utter  them.  At  length  he  slowly  went  out,  saluting 
us,  and  Burguet  finished  his  cup  of  coffee. 

We  meditated  for  some  minutes  upon  what  had 
passed.  But  soon  the  thought  of  seeing  my  family 
seized  me. 

Burguet  was  like  a  soul  in  purgatory.  Every 
minute  he  got  up  to  look  on,  as  one  or  another 
played,  with  his  hands  crossed  behind  his  back; 


THE   BLOCKADE  213 

then  he  sat  down  with  a  melancholy  look.  I  should 
have  been  very  sorry  to  plague  him  longer,  and,  as 
the  clock  struck  eight,  I  bade  him  good-evening, 
which  evidently  pleased  him. 

"  Good-night,  Moses,"  said  he,  leading  me  to  the 
door.  "  My  compliments  to  Madame  Sorle,  and 
Madame  Zeffen." 

"  Thank  you !    I  shall  not  forget  it." 
I  went,  very  glad  to  return  home,  where  I  arrived 
in  a  few  minutes.    Sorle  saw  at  once  that  I  was  in 
good  spirits,  for,  meeting  her  at  the  door  of  our 
little  kitchen,  I  embraced  her  joyfully. 

"  It  is  all  right,  Sorle,"  said  I,  "  all  just  right!  " 
"  Yes,"  said  she,  "  I  see  that  it  is  all  right!  " 
She  laughed,  and  we  went  into  the  room  where 
Zeffen  was  undressing  David.    The  poor  little  fel- 
low, in  his  shirt,  came  and  offered  me  his  cheek  to 
kiss.     Whenever  I  dined  in  the  city,  I  used  to 
bring  him  some  of  the  dessert,  and,  in  spite  of  his 
sleepy  eyes,  he  soon  found  his  way  to  my  pockets. 

You  see,  Fritz,  what  makes  grandfathers  happy 
is  to  find  out  how  bright  and  sensible  their  grand- 
children are. 

Even  little  Esdras,  whom  Sorle  was  rocking, 
understood  at  once  that  something  unusual  was 
going  on;  he  stretched  out  his  little  hands  to  me,  as 
if  to  say,  "  I  like  cake  too !  " 


214  THE   BLOCKADE 

We  were  all  of  us  very  happy.  At  length, 
ing  sat  down,  I  gave  them  an  account  of  the  day, 
setting  forth  the  eloquence  of  Burguet,  and  the 
poor  deserter's  happiness.  They  all  listened  atten- 
tively. Safel,  seated  on  my  knees,  whispered  to  me, 
"  We  have  sold  three  hundred  francs'  worth  of 
brandy! " 

This  news  pleased  me  greatly:  when  one  makes 
an  outlay,  he  ought  to  profit  by  it. 

About  ten  o'clock,  after  Zeffen  had  wished  us 
good-night,  I  went  down  and  shut  the  door,  and  put 
the  key  underneath  for  the  sergeant,  if  he  should 
come  in  late. 

While  we  were  going  to  bed,  Sorle  repeated  what 
Safel  had  said,  adding  that  we  should  be  in  easy 
circumstances  when  the  blockade  was  over,  and 
that  the  Lord  had  helped  us  in  the  midst  of  great 
calamities. 

We  were  happy  and  without  fear  of  the  future. 


XVI 

A   SOETIE    OF   THE    GARRISON" 

extraordinary  occurred  for  several  days. 
The  governor  had  the  plants  and  bushes  growing 
in  the  crevices  of  the  ramparts  torn  away,  to  make 
desertion  less  easy,  and  he  forbade  the  officers  being 
too  rough  with  the  men,  which  had  a  good  effect. 

At  this  time,  hundreds  of  thousands  of  Austrians, 
Eussians,  Bavarians,  and  "Wurtemburgers,  by 
squadrons  and  regiments,  passed  around  the  city  be- 
yond range  of  our  cannon,  and  marched  upon  Paris. 

Then  there  were  terrible  battles  in  Champagne, 
but  we  knew  nothing  of  them. 

The  uniforms  changed  every  day  outside  the  city ; 
our  old  soldiers  on  top  of  the  ramparts  recognized 
all  the  different  nations  they  had  been  fighting  for 
twenty  years. 

Our  sergeant  came  regularly  after  the  call,  to 
take  me  upon  the  arsenal  bastion;  citizens  were 
there  all  the  time,  talking  about  the  invasion,  which. 

did  not  come  to  an  end. 

215 


216  THE   BLOCKADE 

It  was  wonderful!  In  the  direction  of  St.  Jean, 
on  the  edge  of  the  forest  of  La  Bonne-Fontaine,  we 
saw,  for  hours  at  a  time,  cavalry  and  infantry  de- 
filing, and  then  convoys  of  powder  and  balls,  and 
then  cannon,  and  then  files  of  bayonets,  helmets, 
red  and  green  and  blue  coats,  lances,  peasants' 
wagons  covered  with  cloth — all  these  passed,  passed 
like  a  river. 

On  this  broad  white  plateau,  surrounded  by  for- 
ests, we  could  see  everything. 

Now  and  then  some  Cossacks  or  dragoons  would 
leave  the  main  body,  and  push  on  galloping  to  the 
very  foot  of  the  glacis,  in  the  lane  des  Dames,  or 
near  the  little  chapel.  Instantly  one  of  our  old 
marine  artillerymen  would  stretch  out  his  gray 
mustaches  upon  a  rampart  gun,  and  slowly  take 
aim;  the  bystanders  would  all  gather  round  him, 
even  the  children,  who  would  creep  between  your 
legs,  fearless  of  balls  or  shells — and  the  heavy  rifle- 
gun  would  go  off ! 

Many  a  time  I  have  seen  the  Cossack  or  Uhlan 
fall  from  his  saddle,  and  the  horse  rush  back  to  the 
squadron  with  his  bridle  on  his  neck.  The  people 
would  shout  with  joy;  they  would  climb  up  on  the 
ramparts  and  look  down,  and  the  gunner  would 
rub  his  hands  and  say,  "  One  more  out  of  the 
way! " 


THE   BLOCKADE  217 

At  other  times  these  old  men,  with  their  ragged 
cloaks  full  of  holes,  would  bet  a  couple  of  sous  as  to 
who  should  bring  down  this  sentinel  or  that  vidette, 
on  the  Mittelbronn  or  Bichelberg  hill. 

It  was  so  far  that  they  needed  good  eyes  to  see 
the  one  they  designated ;  but  these  men,  accustomed 
to  the  sea,  can  discern  everything  as  far  as  the  eye 
can  reach. 

"  Come,  Paradis,  there  he  is !  "  one  would  say. 

"Yes,  there  he  is!  Lay  down  your  two  sous; 
there  are  mine!  " 

And  they  would  fire.  They  would  go  on  as  if  it 
were  a  game  of  ninepins.  God  knows  how  many 
men  they  killed  for  the  sake  of  their  two  sous. 
Every  morning  about  nine  o'clock  I  found  these 
marines  in  my  shop,  drinking  "  to  the  Cossack,"  as 
they  said.  The  last  drop  they  poured  into  their 
hands,  to  strengthen  their  nerves,  and  started  off 
with  rounded  backs,  calling  out: 

"  Hey !  good-day,  Father  Moses !  The  kaiserlich 
is  very  well !  " 

I  do  not  think  that  I  ever  saw  so  many  people  in 
my  life  as  in  those  months  of  January  and  February, 
1814;  they  were  like  the  locusts  of  Egypt!  How 
the  earth  could  produce  so  many  people  I  could  not 
comprehend. 

I  was  naturally  greatly  troubled  on  account  of  it, 


218  THE  BLOCKADE 

and  the  other  citizens  also,  as  I  need  not  say;  but 
our  sergeant  laughed  and  winked. 

"  Look,  Father  Moses !  "  said  he,  pointing  from 
Quatre- Vents  to  Bichelberg — "  all  these  that  are 
passing  by,  all  that  have  passed,  and  all  that  are 
going  to  pass,  are  to  enrich  the  soil  of  Champagne 
and  Lorraine !  The  Emperor  is  down  there,  waiting 
for  them  in  a  good  place — he  will  fall  upon  them! 
The  thunder-bolt  of  Austerlitz,  of  Jena,  of  "VVag- 
ram,  is  all  ready — it  can  wait  no  longer!  Then 
they  will  file  back  in  retreat;  but  our  armies  will 
follow  them,  with  our  bayonets  in  their  backs,  and 
we  shall  go  out  from  here,  and  flank  them  off.  Not 
one  shall  escape.  Their  account  is  settled.  And 
then  will  be  the  time  for  you  to  have  old  clothes 
and  other  things  to  sell,  Father  Moses!  He!  he! 
he!  How  fat  you  will  grow!  " 

He  was  merry  at  the  thought  of  it ;  but  you  may 
suppose,  Fritz,  that  I  did  not  count  much  upon 
those  uniforms  that  were  running  across  the  fields; 
I  would  much  rather  they  had  been  a  thousand 
leagues  away. 

Such  are  men — some  are  glad  and  others  miser- 
able from  the  same  cause.  The  sergeant  was  so  con- 
fident that  sometimes  he  persuaded  me,  and  I 
thought  as  he  did. 

We  would  go  down  the  rampart  street  together, 


THE   BLOCKADE  219 

he  would  go  to  the  cantine  where  they  had  begun 
to  distribute  siege-rations,  or  perhaps  he  would  go 
home  with  me,  take  his  little  glass  of  cherry-brandy, 
and  explain  to  me  the  Emperor's  grand  strokes 
since  '96  in  Italy,  I  did  not  understand  anything 
about  it,  but  I  made  believe  that  I  understood, 
which  answered  all  the  purpose. 

There  came  envoys,  too,  sometimes  on  the  road 
from  Nancy,  sometimes  from  Saverne  or  Hetz. 
They  raised,  at  a  distance,  the  little  white  flag;  one 
of  their  trumpeters  sounded  and  then  withdrew; 
the  officer  of  the  guard  received  the  envoy  and  ban- 
daged his  eyes,  then  he  went  under  escort  through 
the  city  to  the  governor's  house.  But  what  these 
envoys  told  or  demanded  never  transpired  in  the 
city;  the  council  of  defence  alone  were  informed 
of  it. 

"We  lived  confined  within  our  walls  as  if  we  were 
in  the  middle  of  the  sea,  and  you  cannot  believe 
how  that  weighs  upon  one  after  a  while,  how  de- 
pressing and  overpowering  it  is  not  to  be  able  to  go 
out  even  upon  the  glacis.  Old  men  who  had  been 
nailed  for  ten  years  to  their  arm-chairs,  and  who 
never  thought  of  moving,  were  oppressed  by  grief 
at  knowing  that  the  gates  remained  shut.  And  then 
every  one  wants  to  know  what  is  going  on,  to  see 
strangers  and  talk  of  the  affairs  of  the  country — no 


220  THE   BLOCKADE 

one  knows  how  necessary  these  things  ai'e  until  he 
has  had  experience  like  ours.  The  meanest  peasant, 
the  lowest  man  in  Dagsburg  who  might  have 
chanced  to  come  into  the  city,  would  have  been  re- 
ceived like  a  god;  everybody  would  have  run  to 
see  him  and  ask  for  the  news  from  France. 

Ah!  those  are  right  who  hold  that  liberty  is  the 
greatest  of  blessings,  for  it  is  insupportable  being 
shut  up  in  a  prison — let  it  be  as  large  as  France. 
Men  are  made  to  come  and  go,  to  talk  and  write, 
and  live  together,  to  carry  on  trade,  to  tell  the  news; 
and  if  you  take  these  from  them,  you  leave  nothing 
desirable. 

Governments  do  not  understand  this  simple  mat- 
ter; they  think  that  they  are  stronger  when  they 
prevent  men  from  living  at  their  ease,  and  at  last 
everybody  is  tired  of  them.  The  true  power  of  a 
sovereign  is  always  in  proportion  to  the  liberty  he 
can  give,  and  not  to  that  which  he  is  obliged  to  take 
away.  The  allies  had  learned  this  for  Napoleon, 
and  thence  came  their  confidence. 

The  saddest  thing  of  all  was  that,  toward  the  end 
of  January,  the  citizens  began  to  be  in  want.  I 
cannot  say  that  money  was  scarce,  because  a  centime 
never  went  out  of  the  city,  but  everything  was  dear; 
what  three  weeks  before  was  worth  two  sous  now 
cost  twenty!  This  has  often  led  me  to  think  that 


THE   BLOCKADE  221 

scarcity  of  money  is  one  of  the  fooleries  invented  by 
scoundrels  to  deceive  the  weak-minded.  What  else 
can  make  money  scarce?  You  are  not  poor  with 
two  sous,  if  they  are  enough  to  buy  your  bread, 
wine,  meat,  clothes,  etc.;  but  if  you  need  twenty 
times  more  to  buy  these  things,  then  not  only  are 
you  poor,  but  the  whole  country  is  poor.  There  is 
no  want  of  money  when  everything  is  cheap;  it  is 
always  scarce  when  the  necessaries  of  life  are 
dear. 

So,  when  people  are  shut  up  as  we  were,  it  is  very 
fortunate  to  be  able  to  sell  more  than  you  buy.  My 
brandy  sold  for  three  francs  the  quart,  but  at  the 
same  time  we  needed  bread,  oil,  potatoes,  and  their 
prices  were  all  proportionately  high. 

One  morning  old  Mother  Queru  came  to  my  shop 
weeping;  she  had  eaten  nothing  for  two  days !  and 
yet  that  was  the  least  thing,  said  she;  she  missed 
nothing  but  her  glass  of  wine,  which  I  gave  her 
gratis.  She  gave  me  a  hundred  blessings  and  went 
away  happy.  A  good  many  others  would  have  liked 
their  glass  of  wine !  I  have  seen  old  men  in  despair 
because  they  had  nothing  to  snuff;  they  even  went 
so  far  as  to  snuff  ashes;  some  at  this  time  smoked 
the  leaves  of  the  large  walnut-tree  by  the  arsenal, 
and  liked  it  well. 

Unfortunately,  all  this  was  but  the  beginning  of 


222  THE   BLOCKADE 

want:  later  we  learned  to  fast  for  the  glory  of  his 
Majesty. 

Toward  the  end  of  February,  it  became  cold 
again.  Every  evening  they  fired  a  hundred  shells 
upon  us,  but  we  became  accustomed  to  all  that,  till 
it  seemed  quite  a  thing  of  course.  As  soon  as  the 
shell  burst  everybody  ran  to  put  out  the  fire,  which 
was  an  easy  matter,  since  there  were  tubs  full  of 
water  ready  in  every  house. 

Our  guns  replied  to  the  enemy;  but  as  after  ten 
o'clock  the  Russians  fired  only  with  field-pieces,  our 
men  could  aim  only  at  their  fire,  which  was  chang- 
ing continually,  and  it  was  not  easy  to  reach  them. 

Sometimes  the  enemy  fired  incendiary  balls; 
these  are  balls  pierced  with  three  nails  in  a  triangle, 
and  filled  with  such  inflammable  matter  that  it 
could  be  extinguished  only  by  throwing  the  ball 
under  water,  which  was  done. 

We  had  as  yet  had  no  fires;  but  our  outposts  had 
fallen  back,  and  the  allies  drew  closer  and  closer 
around  the  city.  They  occupied  the  Ozillo  farm, 
Pernette's  tile-kiln,  and  the  Maisons-Rouges,  which 
had  been  abandoned  by  our  troops.  Here  they  in- 
tended to  pass  the  winter  pleasantly.  These  were 
Wurtemburg,  Bavarian,  and  Baden  troops,  and 
other  landwehr,  who  replaced  in  Alsace  the  regular 
troops  that  had  left  for  the  interior. 


THE   BLOCKADE  223 

We  could  plainly  see  their  sentinels  in  long,  gray- 
ish-blue coats,  flat  helmets,  and  muskets  on  their 
shoulders,  walking  slowly  in  the  poplar  alley  which 
leads  to  the  tile-kiln. 

From  thence  these  troops  could  any  moment,  on 
a  dark  night,  enter  the  trenches,  and  even  attempt 
to  force  a  postern. 

They  were  in  large  numbers  and  denied  them- 
selves nothing,  having  three  or  four  villages  around 
them  to  furnish  their  provisions,  and  the  great  fires 
of  the  tile-kiln  to  keep  them  warm. 

Sometimes  a  Russian  battalion  relieved  them, 
but  only  for  a  day  or  two,  being  obliged  to  continue 
its  route.  These  Russians  bathed  in  the  little  pond 
behind  the  building,  in  spite  of  the  ice  and  snow 
which  filled  it. 

All  of  them,  Russians,  "Wurtemburgers,  and  Ba- 
den men,  fired  upon  our  sentinels,  and  we  wondered 
that  our  governor  had  not  stopped  them  with  our 
balls.  But  one  day  the  sergeant  came  in  joyfully, 
and  whispered  to  me,  winking : 

"  Get  up  early  to-morrow  morning,  Father 
Moses;  don't  say  a  word  to  any  one,  and  follow  me. 
You  will  see  something  that  will  make  you  laugh." 

"  All  right,  sergeant !  "  said  I. 

He  went  to  bed  at  once,  and  long  before  day, 
about  five  o'clock,  I  heard  him  jump  out  of  bed, 


224  THE   BLOCKADE 

which  astonished  me  the  more,  as  I  had  not  heard 
the  call. 

I  rose  softly.  Sorle  sleepily  asked  me:  "What  is 
it,  Moses? " 

"  Go  to  sleep  again,  Sorle,"  I  replied;  "  the  ser- 
geant told  me  that  he  wanted  to  show  me  some- 
thing." 

She  said  no  more,  and  I  finished  dressing  myself. 

Just  then  the  sergeant  knocked  at  the  door;  I 
blew  out  the  candle,  and  we  went  down.  It  was 
very  dark. 

We  heard  a  faint  noise  in  the  direction  of  the  bar- 
racks; the  sergeant  went  toward  it,  saying:  "Go 
up  on  the  bastion;  we  are  going  to  attack  the  tile- 
kiln." 

I  ran  up  the  street  at  once.  As  I  came  upon  the 
ramparts  I  saw  in  the  shadow  of  the  bastion  on  the 
right  our  gunners  at  their  pieces.  They  did  not 
stir,  and  all  around  was  still;  matches  lighted  and 
set  in  the  ground  gave  the  only  light,  and  shone 
like  stars  in  the  darkness. 

Five  or  six  citizens,  in  the  secret,  like  myself, 
stood  motionless  at  the  entrance  of  the  postern. 
The  usual  cries,  "  Sentries,  attention !  "  were  an- 
swered around  the  city;  and  without,  from  the  part 
of  the  enemy,  we  heard  the  cries  "  Verdd !  "  and 
"Souidal"* 

*  Who  goes  there? 


THE   BLOCKADE  22$ 

It  was  very  cold,  a  dry  cold,  notwithstanding  the 
fog. 

Soon,  from  the  direction  of  the  square  in  the  in- 
terior of  the  city,  a  number  of  men  went  up  the 
street ;  if  they  had  kept  step  the  enemy  would  have 
heard  them  from  the  distance  upon  the  glacis;  but 
they  came  pell-mell,  and  turned  near  us  into  the 
postern  stair-way.  It  took  full  ten  minutes  for  them 
to  pass.  You  can  imagine  whether  I  watched  them, 
and  yet  I  could  not  recognize  our  sergeant  in  the 
darkness. 

The  two  companies  formed  again  in  the  trenches 
after  their  defiling,  and  all  was  still. 

My  feet  were  perfectly  numb,  it  was  so  cold;  but 
curiosity  kept  me  there. 

At  last,  after  about  half  an  hour,  a  pale  line 
stretched  behind  the  bottom-land  of  Fiquet,  around 
the  woods  of  La  Bonne-Fontaine.  Captain  Rolfo, 
the  other  citizens,  and  myself,  leaned  against  the 
rampart,  and  looked  at  the  snow-covered  plain, 
where  some  German  patrols  were  wandering  in  the 
fog,  and  nearer  to  us,  at  the  foot  of  the  glacis,  the 
Wurtemburg  sentinel  stood  motionless  in  the  poplar 
alley  which  leads  to  the  large  shed  of  the  tile-kiln. 

Everything  was  still  gray  and  indistinct ;  though 
the  winter  sun,  as  white  as  snow,  rose  above  the 
dark  line  of  firs.  Our  soldiers  stood  motionless, 
15 


«26  THE   BLOCKADE 

with  grounded  arms,  in  the  covered  ways.  The 
"  Verdds!  "  and  "  Sou'idas!  "  went  their  rounds. 
It  grew  lighter  every  moment. 

No  one  would  have  believed  that  a  fight  was  pre- 
paring, when  six  o'clock  sounded  from  the  mayor- 
alty, and  suddenly  our  two  companies,  without 
command,  started,  shouldering  their  arms,  from  the 
covered  ways,  and  silently  descended  the  glacis. 

In  less  than  a  minute,  they  reached  the  road 
which  stretches  along  the  gardens,  and  defiled  to 
the  left,  following  the  hedges. 

You  cannot  imagine  my  fright  when  I  found  that 
the  fight  was  about  to  begin.  It  was  not  yet  clear 
daylight,  but  still  the  enemy's  sentinel  saw  the  line 
of  bayonets  filing  behind  the  hedges,  and  called  out 
in  a  terrible  way :  "  Verdd  !  " 

"  Forward !  "  replied  Captain  Yigneron,  in  a 
voice  like  thunder,  and  the  heavy  soles  of  our  sol- 
diers sounded  on  the  hard  ground  like  an  avalanche. 

The  sentinel  fired,  and  then  ran  up  the  alley, 
shouting  I  know  not  what.  Fifteen  of  the  land- 
wehr,  who  formed  the  outpost  under  the  old  shed 
used  for  drying  bricks,  started  at  once;  they  did 
not  have  time  for  repentance,  but  were  all  mas- 
sacred without  mercy. 

"We  could  not  see  very  well  at  that  distance, 
through  the  hedges  and  poplars,  but  after  the  post 


THE   SORTIE  FROM   THE  LIME-KILN. 


THE   BLOCKADE 


227 


was  carried,  the  firing  of  the  musketry  and  the  hor- 
rible cries  were  heard  even  in  the  city. 

All  the  unfortunate  landwehr  who  were  quar- 
tered in  the  Pernette  farm-house — a  large  number 
of  whom  were  undressed,  like  respectable  men  at 
home,  so  as  to  sleep  more  comfortably — jumped 
from  the  windows  in  their  pantaloons,  in  their 
drawers,  in  their  shirts,  with  their  cartridge-boxes 
on  their  backs,  and  ranged  themselves  behind  the 
tile-kiln,  in  the  large  Seltier  meadow.  Their  of- 
ficers urged  them  on,  and  gave  their  orders  in  the 
midst  of  the  tumult. 

There  must  have  been  six  or  seven  hundred  of 
them  there,  almost  naked  in  the  snow,  and,  notwith- 
standing their  being  thus  surprised,  they  opened  a 
running  fire  which  was  well  sustained,  when  our 
two  pieces  on  the  bastion  began  to  take  part  in  the 
contest. 

Oh !  what  carnage ! 

Looking  down  upon  them,  you  should  have  seen 
the  bullets  hit,  and  the  shirts  fly  in  the  air!  And, 
what  was  worst  for  these  poor  wretches,  they  had 
to  close  ranks,  because,  after  destroying  everything 
in  the  tile-kiln,  our  soldiers  went  out  to  make  an 
attack  with  their  bayonets! 

What  a  situation! — just  imagine  it,  Fritz,  for 
respectable  citizens,  merchants,  bankers,  brewers, 


228  THE   BLOCKADE 

innkeepers — peaceable  men  who  wanted  nothing 
but  peace  and  quietness. 

I  have  always  thought,  since  then,  that  the  land- 
wehr  system  is  a  very  bad  one,  and  that  it  is  much 
better  to  pay  a  good  army  of  volunteers,  who  are 
attached  to  the  country,  and  know  that  their  pay, 
pensions,  and  decorations  come  from  the  nation  and 
not  from  the  government;  young  men  devoted  to 
their  country  like  those  of  '92,  and  full  of  enthusi- 
asm, because  they  are  respected  and  honored  in  pro- 
portion to  their  sacrifices.  Yes,  this  is  what  they 
ought  to  be — and  not  men  who  are  thinking  of  their 
wives  and  children. 

Our  balls  struck  down  these  poor  fathers  and 
husbands  by  the  dozen.  To  add  to  all  these  abom- 
inations, two  other  companies,  sent  out  with  the 
greatest  secrecy  by  the  council  of  defence  from  the 
posterns  of  the  guard  and  of  the  German  gate,  and 
which  came  up,  one  by  the  Saverne  road,  and  the 
other  by  the  road  of  Petit-Saint-Jean,  now  began  to 
outflank  them,  and  forming  behind  them,  fired  upon 
them  in  the  rear. 

It  must  be  confessed  that  these  old  soldiers  of  the 
Empire  had  a  diabolical  talent  for  stratagem!  "Who 
would  ever  have  imagined  such  a  stroke ! 

On  seeing  this,  the  remnant  of  the  landwehr  dis- 
banded on  the  great  white  plain  like  a  whirlwind  of 


THE   BLOCKADE  229 

sparrows.  Those  who  had  not  had  time  to  put  on 
their  shoes  did  not  mind  the  stones  or  briers  or 
thorns  of  the  Fiquet  bottom;  they  ran  like  stags, 
the  stoutest  as  fast  as  the  rest. 

Our  soldiers  followed  them  as  skirmishers,  stop- 
ping not  a  second  except  to  make  ready  and  fire. 
All  the  ground  in  front,  up  to  the  old  beech  in  the 
middle  of  the  meadow  of  Quatre- Vents,  was  covered 
with  their  bodies. 

Their  colonel,  a  burgomaster  doubtless,  galloped 
before  them  on  horseback,  his  shirt  flying  out  be- 
hind him. 

If  the  Baden  soldiers,  quartered  in  the  village, 
had  not  come  to  their  assistance,  they  would  all  have 
been  exterminated.  But  two  battalions  of  Baden 
men  being  deployed  at  the  right  of  Quatre- Vents, 
our  trumpets  sounded  the  recall,  and  the  four  com- 
panies formed  in  the  alley  des  Dames  to  await 
them. 

The  Baden  soldiers  then  halted,  and  the  last  of 
the  Wurtemburgers  passed  behind  them,  glad  to 
escape  from  such  a  terrible  destruction.  They 
could  well  say :  "  I  know  what  war  is — I  have  seen 
it  at  the  worst !  " 

It  was  now  seven  o'clock — the  whole  city  was  on 
the  ramparts.  Soon  a  thick  smoke  rose  above  the 
tile-kiln  and  the  surrounding  buildings;  some  sap- 


230  THE   BLOCKADE 

pers  had  gone  out  with  fagots  and  set  it  on  fire. 
It  was  all  burned  to  cinders ;  nothing  remained  but 
a  great  black  space,  and  some  rubbish  behind  the 
poplars. 

Our  four  companies,  seeing  that  the  Baden  sol- 
diers did  not  mean  to  attack  them,  returned  quietly, 
the  trumpeter  leading. 

Long  before  this,  I  had  gone  down  to  the  square, 
near  the  German  gate,  to  meet  our  troops  as  they 
came  back.  It  was  one  of  the  sights  which  I  shall 
never  forget;  the  post  under  arms,  the  veterans 
hanging  by  the  chains  of  the  lowered  drawbridge; 
the  men,  women,  and  children  pushing  in  the  street ; 
and  outside,  on  the  ramparts,  the  trumpets  sounding, 
and  answered  from  the  distance  by  the  echoes  of 
the  bastions  and  half -moon;  the  wounded,  who, 
pale,  tattered,  covered  with  blood,  came  in  first, 
supported  on  the  shoulders  of  their  comrades; 
Lieutenant  Schnindret,  in  one  of  the  tile-kiln  arm- 
chairs, his  face  covered  with  sweat,  with  a  bullet  in 
his  abdomen,  shouting  with  thick  voice  and  ex- 
tended hand,  "  Vive  I'Empereur!  "  the  soldiers  who 
threw  the  Wurtemburg  commander  from  his  litter 
to  put  one  of  our  own  in  it;  the  drums  under  the 
gate  beating  the  march,  while  the  troops,  with  arms 
at  will,  and  bread  and  all  kinds  of  provisions  stuck 
on  their  bayonets,  entered  proudly  in  the  midst  of 


THE   BLOCKADE  231 

the  shouts:  "Hurra  for  the  Sixth  Light  Infan- 
try !  "  These  are  things  which  only  old  people  can 
boast  of  having  seen! 

Ah,  Fritz,  men  are  not  what  they  once  were !  In 
my  time,  foreigners  paid  the  cost  of  war.  The  Em- 
peror Napoleon  had  that  virtue;  he  ruined  not 
France,  but  his  enemies.  Nowadays  we  pay  for  our 
own  glory. 

And,  in  those  times,  the  soldiers  brought  back 
booty,  sacks,  epaulettes,  cloaks,  officers'  sashes, 
watches,  etc.,  etc. !  They  remembered  that  General 
Bonaparte  had  said  to  them  in  1796:  "  You  need 
clothes  and  shoes;  the  Republic  owes  you  much, 
she  can  give  you  nothing.  I  am  going  to  lead  you 
into  the  richest  country  in  the  world;  there  you 
will  find  honors,  glory,  riches!  "  In  fine,  I  saw  at 
once  that  we  were  going  to  sell  glasses  of  wine  at 
a  great  rate. 

As  the  sergeant  passed  I  called  to  him  from  the 
distance,  "  Sergeant!  " 

He  saw  me  in  the  crowd,  and  we  shook  hands 
joyfully.  "  All  right,  Father  Moses!  All  right!" 
he  said. 

Everybody  laughed. 

Then,  without  waiting  for  the  end  of  the  pro- 
cession, I  ran  to  the  market  to  open  my  shop. 

Little  Safel  had  also  understood  that  we  were 


232  THE   BLOCKADE 

going  to  have  a  profitable  day,  for,  in  the  midst  oi 
the  crowd,  he  had  come  and  pulled  my  coat-tails, 
and  said,  "  I  have  the  key  of  the  market;  I  have  it; 
let  us  make  haste!  Let  us  try  to  get  there  before 
Frichard!  " 

Whatever  natural  wit  a  child  may  have,  it  shows 
itself  at  once;  it  is  truly  a  gift  of  God. 

So  we  ran  to  the  shop.  I  opened  my  windows, 
and  Safel  remained  while  I  went  home  to  eat  a 
morsel,  and  get  a  good  quantity  of  sous  and  small 
change. 

Sorle  and  Zeffen  were  at  their  counter  selling 
small  glassfuls.  Everything  went  well  as  usual. 
But  a  quarter  of  an  hour  later,  when  the  soldiers 
had  broken  ranks  and  put  back  their  muskets  in 
their  places  at  the  barracks,  the  crowd  at  my  shop 
in  the  market,  of  people  wishing  to  sell  me  coats, 
sacks,  watches,  pistols,  cloaks,  epaulettes,  etc.,  was 
so  great  that  without  Saf  el's  help  I  never  could  have 
got  out  of  it. 

I  got  all  these  things  for  almost  nothing.  Men 
of  this  sort  never  trouble  themselves  about  to-mor- 
row; their  only  thought  was  to  live  well  from  one 
day  to  another,  to  have  tobacco,  brandy,  and  the 
other  good  things  which  are  never  wanting  in  a 
garrisoned  town. 

That  day,  in  six  hours'  time,  I  refurnished  my 


THE    BLOCKADE  233 

shop  with  coats,  cloaks,  pantaloons,  and  thick  boots 
of  genuine  German  leather,  of  the  first  quality,  and 
I  bought  things  of  all  sorts — nearly  fifteen  hundred 
pounds'  worth — which  I  afterward  sold  for  six  or 
seven  times  more  than  they  cost  me.  All  those 
landwehr  were  well-to-do,  and  even  rich  citizens, 
with  good,  substantial  clothes. 

The  soldiers,  too,  sold  me  a  good  many  watches, 
which  Goulden  the  old  watchmaker  did  not  want, 
because  they  were  taken  from  the  dead. 

But  what  gave  me  more  pleasure  than  all  the 
rest,  was  that  Frichard,  who  was  sick  for  three  or 
four  days,  could  not  come  and  open  his  shop.  It 
makes  me  laugh  now  to  think  of  it.  It  gave  the 
rascal  that  green  jaundice  which  never  left  him  as 
long  as  he  lived. 

At  noon  Safel  went  to  fetch  our  dinner  in  a  bas- 
ket ;  we  ate  under  the  shed  so  as  not  to  lose  custom, 
and  could  not  leave  for  a  minute  till  night.  Scarce- 
ly had  one  set  gone,  before  two  and  often  three 
others  came  at  once. 

I  was  sinking  with  fatigue,  and  so  was  Safel; 
nothing  but  our  love  of  trade  sustained  us. 

Another  pleasant  thing  which  I  recall  is  that,  on 
going  home  a  few  minutes  before  seven,  we  saw  at 
a  distance  that  our  other  shop  was  full.  Mj  wife 
and  daughter  had  not  been  able  to  close  it;  they 


234  THE   BLOCKADE 

had  raised  the  price,  and  the  soldiers  did  not  even 
notice  it, — it  seemed  all  right  to  them;  so  that  not 
only  the  French  money  which  I  had  just  given  them, 
but  also  Wurtemburg  florins  came  to  my  pocket. 

Two  trades  which  help  each  other  along  are  an 
excellent  thing,  Fritz:  remember  that!  Without 
my  brandies  I  should  not  have  had  the  money  to 
buy  so  many  goods,  and  without  the  market  where 
I  gave  ready  money  for  the  booty,  the  soldiers 
would  not  have  had  wherewith  to  buy  my  brandy. 
This  shows  us  plainly  that  the  Lord  favors  orderly 
and  peaceable  men,  provided  they  know  how  to 
make  the  best  use  of  their  opportunities. 

At  length,  as  we  could  not  do  more,  we  were 
obliged  to  close  the  shop,  in  spite  of  the  protesta- 
tions of  the  soldiers,  and  defer  business  till  to-mor- 
row. 

About  nine  o'clock,  after  supper,  we  all  sat  doV/n 
together  around  the  large  lamp,  to  count  our  gains. 
I  made  rolls  of  three  francs  each,  and  on  the  chair 
next  me  the  pile  reached  almost  to  the  top  of  the 
table.  Little  Saf  el  put  the  white  pieces  in  a  wooden 
bowl.  It  was  a  pleasant  sight  to  us  all,  and  Sorle 
said :  "  We  have  sold  twice  as  much  as  usual.  The. 
more  we  raise  the  price  the  better  it  sells." 

I  was  going  to  reply  that  still  we  must  use  mod- 
eration in  all  things — for  these  women,  even  the 


THE   BLOCKADE  235 

best  of  them,  do  not  know  that — when  the  sergeant 
came  in  to  take  his  little  glass.  He  wore  his  forag- 
ing coat,  and  carried  hung  across  his  cape  a  kind  of 
bag  of  red  leather. 

"  He,  he,  he !  "  said  he,  as  he  saw  the  rolls.  "  The 
devil!  the  devil!  You  ought  to  be  satisfied  with 
this  day's  work,  Father  Moses? " 

"  Yes,  not  bad,  sergeant,"  I  joyfully  replied. 

"  I  think,"  said  he,  as  he  sat  down  and  tasted  the 
little  glass  of  cherry-brandy,  which  Zeffen  had  just 
poured  out  for  him,  "  I  think  that  after  one  or  two 
sorties  more,  you  will  do  for  colonel  of  the  shop- 
keepers' regiment.  So  much  the  better;  I  am  very 
glad  of  it!" 

Then,  laughing  heartily,  he  said, 

"  He,  Father  Moses !  see  what  I  have  here;  these 
rascals  of  kaiserlichs  deny  themselves  nothing." 

At  the  same  time  he  opened  his  bag,  and  began 
to  draw  out  a  pair  of  mittens  lined  with  fox-skin, 
then  some  good  woollen  stockings,  and  a  large  knife 
with  a  horn  handle  and  blades  of  very  fine  steel.  He 
opened  the  blades: 

"  There  is  everything  here,"  said  he,  "  a  pruning- 
knife,  a  saw,  small  knives  and  large  ones,  even  to  a 
file  for  nails." 

"  For  finger-nails,  sergeant !  "  said  I. 

"  Ah!   very  likely!  "  said  he.    "  This  big  land- 


236  THE   BLOCKADE 

wehr  was  as  nice  as  a  new  crown-piece.  He  would 
be  likely  to  file  his  finger-nails.  But  wait !  " 

My  wife  and  children,  leaning  over  us,  looked  on 
with  eager  eyes.  Thrusting  his  hand  into  a  sort  of 
portfolio  in  the  side  of  the  bag,  he  drew  out  a  hand- 
some miniature,  surrounded  with  a  circle  of  gold 
in  the  shape  of  a  watch,  but  larger. 

"  See !    What  ought  this  to  be  worth  ?  " 

I  looked,  then  Sorle,  then  Zeffen,  and  Saf  el.  "We 
were  all  surprised  at  seeing  a  work  of  such  beauty, 
and  even  touched,  for  the  miniature  represented  a 
fair  young  woman  and  two  lovely  children,  as  fresh 
as  rose-buds. 

"  Well,  what  do  you  think  of  that? "  asked  the 
sergeant. 

"  It  is  very  beautiful,"  said  Sorle. 

"  Yes,  but  what  is  it  worth  ?  " 

I  took  the  miniature  and  examined  it. 

"  To  any  one  else,  sergeant,"  said  I,  "  I  should 
say  that  it  was  worth  fifty  francs ;  but  the  gold  alone 
is  worth  more,  and  I  should  estimate  it  at  a  hundred 
francs;  we  can  weigh  it." 

"  And  the  portrait,  Father  Moses  ?  " 

"  The  portrait  is  worth  nothing  to  me,  and  I 
will  give  it  back  to  you.  Such  things  do  not  sell 
in  this  country;  they  are  of  no  value  except  to  the 
family." 


THE    BLOCKADE  237 

"  Very  well,"  said  he,  "  we  will  talk  about  that 
by  and  by." 

He  put  back  the  miniature  into  the  bag. 

"  Do  you  read  German?  "  he  asked. 

"  Very  well." 

"  Ah,  good !  I  am  curious  to  hear  what  this  kai- 
serlich  had  to  write.  See,  it  is  a  letter!  He  was 
keeping  it  doubtless  for  the  baggage-master  to  send 
it  to  Germany.  But  we  came  too  soon !  What  does 
it  say?" 

He  handed  me  a  letter  addressed  to  Madame  Roe- 
dig,  Stuttgart,  No.  6  Bergstrasse.  That  letter, 
Fritz,  here  it  is.  Sorle  has  kept  it;  it  will  tell  you 
more  about  the  landwehr  than  I  can. 


"  BICHELBEKG,  Feb.  25,  1814. 

"DEAR  ATJRELIA:  Thy  good  letter  of  January 
29th  reached  Coblentz  too  late;  the  regiment  was 
on  its  way  to  Alsace. 

"  We  have  had  a  great  many  discomforts,  from 
rain  and  snow.  The  regiment  came  first  to  Bitche, 
one  of  the  most  terrible  forts  possible,  built  upon 
rocks  up  in  the  sky.  We  were  to  take  part  in  block- 
ading it,  but  a  new  order  sent  us  on  farther  to  the 
fort  of  Lutzelstein,  on  the  mountain,  where  we  re- 
mained two  days  at  the  village  of  Petersbach,  to 


238  THE    BLOCKADE 

summon  that  little  place  to  surrender.  The  veterans 
who  held  it  having  replied  by  cannon,  our  colonel 
did  not  judge  it  necessary  to  storm  it,  and,  thank 
God!  we  received  orders  to  go  and  blockade  an- 
other fortress  surrounded  by  good  villages  which 
furnish  us  provisions  in  abundance;  this  is  Phals- 
burg,  a  couple  of  leagues  from  Saverne.  We  re- 
lieve, here,  the  Austrian  regiment  of  \7ogelgesang, 
which  has  left  for  Lorraine. 

"  Thy  good  letter  has  followed  me  everywhere, 
and  it  fills  me  now  with  joy.  Embrace  little  Sabrina 
and  our  dear  little  Henry  for  me  a  hundred  times, 
and  receive  my  embraces  yourself,  too,  thou  dear, 
adored  wife ! 

"Ah!  when  shall  we  be  together  again  in  our 
little  pharmacy?  When  shall  I  see  again  my  vials 
nicely  labelled  upon  their  shelves,  with  the  heads  of 
^Esculapius  and  Hippocrates  above  the  door?  When 
shall  I  take  my  pestle,  and  mix  my  drugs  again  after 
the  prescribed  formulas?  When  shall  I  have  the 
joy  of  sitting  again  in  my  comfortable  arm-chair,  in 
front  of  a  good  fire,  in  our  back  shop,  and  hear 
Henry's  little  wooden  horse  roll  upon  the  floor, — 
Henry  whom  I  so  long  for  ?  And  thou,  dear,  adored 
wife,  when  wilt  thou  exclaim:  '  It  is  my  Henry! ? 
as  thou  seest  me  return  crowned  with  palms  of  vic- 
tory." 


THE   BLOCKADE  239 

"These  Germans,"  interrupted  the  sergeant, 
"  are  blockheads  as  well  as  asses !  They  are  to  have 
'  palms  of  victory!  ' .  "What  a  silly  letter!  " 

But  Sorle  and  Zeffen  listened  as  I  read,  with  tears 
in  their  eyes.  They  held  our  little  ones  in  their 
arms,  and  I,  too,  thinking  that  Baruch  might  have 
been  in  the  same  condition  as  this  poor  man,  was 
greatly  moved. 

Now,  Fritz,  hear  the  end : 

"  We  are  here  in  an  old  tile-kiln,  within  range  of 
the  cannon  of  the  fort.  A  few  shells  are  fired  upon 
the  city  every  evening,  by  order  of  the  Russian 
general,  Berdiaiw,  with  the  hope  of  making  the  in- 
habitants decide  to  open  the  gates.  That  must  be 
before  long;  they  are  short  of  provisions!  Then 
we  shall  be  comfortably  lodged  in  the  citizens' 
houses,  till  the  end  of  this  glorious  campaign;  and 
that  will  be  soon,  for  the  regular  armies  have  all 
passed  without  resistance,  and  we  hear  daily  of  great 
victories  in  Champagne.  Bonaparte  is  in  full  re- 
treat; field-marshals  Bliicher  and  Schwartzenberg 
have  united  their  forces,  and  are  only  five  or  six 
days'  march  from  Paris " 

"What?  What?  What  is  that?  What  does  he 
say? "  stammered  out  the  sergeant,  leaning  over 
toward  the  letter.  "  Read  that  again!  " 


240  THE   BLOCKADE 

I  looked  at  him;  he  was  very  pale,  and  his  cheeks 
shook  with  anger. 

"  He  says  that  generals  Bliicher  and  Schwartzen- 
berg  are  near  Paris." 

"  Near  Paris !  They !  The  rascals !  "  he  faltered 
out. 

Suddenly,  with  a  bad  look  on  his  face,  he  gave  a 
low  laugh  and  said: 

"  Ah !  thou  meanest  to  take  Phalsburg,  dost  thou  ? 
Thou  meanest  to  return  to  thy  land  of  sauerkraut 
with  palms  of  victory  ?  He !  he !  he !  I  have  given 
thee  thy  palms  of  victory!  " 

He  made  the  motions  of  pricking  with  his  bayonet 
as  he  spoke,  "  One — two — hop !  " 

It  made  us  all  tremble  only  to  look  at  him. 

"  Yes,  Father  Moses,  so  it  is,"  said  he,  emptying 
his  glass  by  little  sips.  "  I  have  nailed  this  sort  of 
an  apothecary  to  the  door  of  the  tile-kiln.  He  made 
up  a  funny  face — his  eyes  starting  from  his  head. 
His  Aurelia  will  have  to  expect  him  a  good  while! 
But  never  mind!  Only,  Madame  Sorle,  I  assure 
you  that  it  is  a  lie.  You  must  not  believe  a  word  he 
says.  The  Emperor  will  give  it  to  them!  Don't  be 
troubled." 

I  did  not  wish  to  go  on.  I  felt  myself  grow  cold, 
and  I  finished  the  letter  quickly,  passing  over  three- 


THE    BLOCKADE 


241 


quarters  of  it  which  contained  no  information,  only 
compliments  for  friends  and  acquaintances. 

The  sergeant  himself  had  had  enough  of  it,  and 
went  out  soon  afterward,  saying,  "  Good-night! 
Throw  that  in  the  fire!  " 

Then  I  put  the  letter  aside,  and  we  all  sat  looking 
at  each  other  for  some  minutes.  I  opened  the  door. 
The  sergeant  was  in  his  room  at  the  end  of  the  pas- 
sage, and  I  said,  in  a  low  voice : 

"  What  a  horrible  thing!  Not  only  to  kill  the 
father  of  a  family  like  a  fly,  but  to  laugh  about  it 
af  terward !  " 

"  Yes,"  replied  Sorle.  "  And  the  worst  of  it  is 
that  he  is  not  a  bad  man.  He  loves  the  Emperor 
too  well,  that  is  all!" 

The  information  contained  in  the  letter  caused  us 
much  serious  reflection,  and  that  night,  notwith- 
standing our  stroke  of  good  fortune  in  our  sales,  I 
woke  more  than  once,  and  thought  of  this  terrible 
war,  and  wondered  what  would  become  of  the  coun- 
try if  Napoleon  were  no  longer  its  master.  But 
these  questions  were  above  my  comprehension,  and 
I  did  not  know  how  to  answer  them. 


XVII 

FAMINE  AND   FEVEK 

AFTEB  this  story  of  the  landwehr,  we  were  afraid 
of  the  sergeant,  though  he  did  not  know  it,  and  came 
regularly  to  take  his  glass  of  cherry-brandy.  Some- 
times in  the  evening  he  would  hold  the  bottle  before 
our  lamp,  and  exclaim : 

'•  "  It  is  getting  low,  Father  Moses,  it  is  getting 
low!  We  shall  soon  be  put  upon  half -rations,  and 
then  quarter,  and  so  on.  It  is  all  the  same;  if  a 
drop  is  left,  anything  more  than  the  smell,  in  six 
months,  Trubert  will  be  very  glad." 

He  laughed,  and  I  thought  with  indignation : 

"  You  will  be  satisfied  with  a  drop !  What  are 
you  in  want  of?  The  city  storehouses  are  bomb- 
proof, the  fires  at  the  guard-house  are  burning  every 
day,  the  market  furnishes  every  soldier  with  his 
ration  of  fresh  meat,  while  respectable  citizens  are 
glad  if  they  can  get  potatoes  and  salt  meat !  " 

This  is  the  way  I  felt  in  my  ill-humor,  while  I 
treated  him  pleasantly,  all  the  same,  on  account  of 
his  terrible  wickedness. 

242 


THE   BLOCKADE  243 

And  it  was  the  truth,  Fritz,  even  our  children  had 
nothing  more  nourishing  to  eat  than  soup  made  of 
potatoes  and  salt  beef,  which  cause  many  dangerous 
maladies. 

The  garrison  had  no  lack  of  anything;  but,  not- 
withstanding, the  governor  was  all  the  time  pro- 
claiming that  the  visits  were  to  be  recommenced, 
and  that  those  who  should  be  found  delinquent 
should  be  punished  with  the  rigor  of  military  law. 
Those  people  wanted  to  have  everything  for  them- 
selves; but  nobody  minded  them,  everybody  hid 
what  he  could. 

Fortunate  in  those  times  was  he  who  kept  a  cow 
in  his  cellar,  with  some  hay  and  straw  for  f odder  ^ 
inilk  and  butter  were  beyond  all  price.  Fortunate 
was  he  who  owned  a  few  hens;  a  fresh  egg,  at  the 
end  of  February,  was  valued  at  fifteen  sous,  and 
they  were  not  to  be  had  even  at  that  price.  The 
price  of  fresh  meat  went  up,  so  to  speak,  from  hour 
to  hour,  and  we  did  not  ask  if  it  was  beef  or  horse- 
flesh. 

The  council  of  defence  had  sent  away  the  paupers 
of  the  city  before  the  blockade,  but  a  large  number 
of  poor  people  remained.  A  good  many  slipped  out 
at  night  into  the  trenches  by  one  of  the  posterns; 
they  would  go  and  dig  up  roots  from  under  the 
snow,  and  cut  the  nettles  in  the  bastions  to  boil  for 


244  THE    BLOCKADE 

spinach.  The  sentries  fired  from  above,  but  what 
will  not  a  man  risk  for  food?  It  is  better  to  feel  a 
ball  than  to  suffer  with  hunger. 

We  needed  only  to  meet  these  emaciated  creat- 
ures, these  women  dragging  themselves  along  the 
walls,  these  pitiful  children,  to  feel  that  famine  had 
come,  and  we  often  said  to  ourselves : 

"  If  the  Emperor  does  not  come  and  help  us,  in  a 
month  we  shall  be  like  these  wretched  creatures! 
What  good  will  our  money  do  us,  when  a  radish 
will  cost  a  hundred  francs?  " 

Then,  Fritz,  we  smiled  no  more  as  we  saw  the 
little  ones  eating  around  the  table;  we  looked  at 
each  other,  and  this  glance  was  enough  to  make 
us  understand  each  other. 

The  good  sense  and  good  feeling  of  a  brave 
woman  are  seen  at  times  like  this.  Sorle  had  never 
spoken  to  me  about  our  provisions;  I  knew  how 
prudent  she  was,  and  supposed  that  we  must  have 
provisions  hidden  somewhere,  without  being  entire- 
ly sure  of  it.  So,  at  evening,  as  we  sat  at  our 
meagre  supper,  the  fear  that  our  children  might 
want  -the  necessary  food  sometimes  led  me  to 
say: 

"Eat!  feast  away!  I  am  not  hungry.  I  want 
an  omelet  or  a  chicken.  Potatoes  do  not  agree  with 


THE   BLOCKADE  245 

I  would  laugh,  but  Sorle  knew  very  well  what  I 
was  thinking. 

"  Come,  Moses,"  she  said  to  me  one  day;  "  we  are 
not  as  badly  off  as  you  think;  and  if  we  should  come 
to  it,  ah,  well !  do  not  be  troubled,  we  shall  find  some 
way  of  getting  along !  So  long  as  others  have  some- 
thing to  live  upon,  we  shall  not  perish,  more  than 
they." 

She  gave  me  courage,  and  I  ate  cheerfully,  I  had 
so  much  confidence  in  her. 

That  same  evening,  after  Zeffen  and  the  children 
had  gone  to  bed,  Sorle  took  the  lamp,  and  led  me  to 
her  hiding-place. 

Under  the  house  we  had  three  cellars,  very  small 
and  very  low,  separated  by  lattices.  Against  the 
last  of  these  lattices,  Sorle  had  thrown  bundles  of 
straw  up  to  the  very  top;  but  after  removing  the 
straw,  we  went  in,  and  I  saw  at  the  farther  end,  two 
bags  of  potatoes,  a  bag  of  flour,  and  on  the  little 
oil-cask  a  large  piece  of  salt  beef. 

We  stayed  there  more  than  an  hour,  to  look,  and 
calculate,  and  think.  These  provisions  might  serve 
us  for  a  month,  and  those  in  the  large  cellar  under 
the  street,  which  we  had  declared  to  the  commissary 
of  provisions,  a  fortnight.  So  that  Sorle  said  to  me 
as  we  went  up: 

"  You  see  that,  with  economy,  we  have  what  will 


246  THE   BLOCKADE 

do  for  six  weeks.  A  time  of  great  want  is  now 
beginning,  and  if  the  Emperor  does  not  come  before 
the  end  of  six  weeks,  the  city  will  surrender. 
Meanwhile,  we  must  get  along  with  potatoes  and 
salt  meat." 

She  was  right,  but  every  day  I  saw  how  the  chil- 
dren were  suffering  from  this  diet.  We  could  see 
that  they  grew  thin,  especially  little  David;  his 
large  bright  eyes,  his  hollow  cheeks,  his  increasing 
dejected  look,  made  my  heart  ache. 

I  held  him,  I  caressed  him;  I  whispered  to  him 
that,  when  the  winter  was  over,  we  would  go  to 
Saverne,  and  his  father  would  take  him  to  drive  in 
his  carriage.  He  would  look  at  me  dreamily,  and 
then  lay  his  head  upon  my  shoulder,  with  his  arm 
around  my  neck,  without  answering.  At  last  he 
refused  to  eat. 

Zeffen,  too,  became  disheartened;  she  would  often 
sob,  and  take  her  babe  from  me,  and  say  that  she 
wanted  to  go,  that  she  wanted  to  see  Baruch !  You 
do  not  know  what  these  troubles  are,  Fritz;  a 
father's  troubles  for  his  children;  they  are  the  cruel- 
est  of  all!  No  child  can  imagine  how  his  parents 
love  him,  and  what  they  suffer  when  he  is  unhappy. 

But  what  was  to  be  done  in  the  midst  of  such 
calamities?  Many  other  families  in  France  were 
still  more  to  be  pitied  than  we. 


THE   BLOCKADE  247 

During  all  this  time,  you  must  remember  that  we 
had  the  patrols,  the  shells  in  the  evening,  requisi- 
tion and  notices,  the  call  to  arms  at  the  two  barracks 
and  in  front  of  the  mayoralty,  the  cries  of  "  Fire !  " 
in  the  night,  the  noise  of  the  fire-engines,  the  arrival 
of  the  envoys,  the  rumors  spread  through  the  city 
that  our  armies  were  retreating,  and  that  the  city 
was  to  be  burned  to  the  ground ! 

The  less  people  know  the  more  they  invent. 

It  is  best  to  tell  the  simple  truth.  Then  every  one 
would  take  courage,  for,  during  all  such  times,  I 
have  always  seen  that  the  truth,  even  in  the  greatest 
calamities,  is  never  so  terrible  as  these  inventions. 
The  republicans  defended  themselves  so  well,  be- 
cause they  knew  everything,  nothing  was  concealed 
from  them,  and  every  one  considered  the  affairs  of 
his  nation  as  his  own. 

But  when  men's  own  affairs  are  hidden  from 
them,  how  can  they  have  confidence?  An  honest 
man  has  nothing  to  conceal,  and  I  say  it  is  the  same 
with  an  honest  government. 

In  short,  bad  weather,  cold,  want,  rumors  of  all 
kinds,  increased  our  miseries.  Men  like  Burguet, 
whom  we  had  always  seen  firm,  became  sad ;  all  that 
they  could  say  to  us  was: 

"  We  shall  see ! — we  must  wait !  "  The  soldiers 
again  began  to  desert,  and  were  shot ! 


248  THE   BLOCKADE 

Our  brandy-selling  always  kept  on :  I  had  already 
emptied  seven  pipes  of  spirit,  all  my  debts  were 
paid,  my  storehouse  at  the  market  was  full  of  goods, 
and  I  had  eighteen  thousand  francs  in  the  cellar; 
but  what  is  money,  when  we  are  trembling  for  the 
life  of  those  we  love  ? 

On  the  sixth  of  March,  about  nine  o'clock  in  the 
evening,  we  had  just  finished  supper  as  usual,  and 
the  sergeant  was  smoking  his  pipe,  with  his  legs 
crossed,  near  the  window,  and  looking  at  us  without 
speaking. 

It  was  the  hour  when  the  bombarding  began; 
we  heard  the  first  cannon-shots,  behind  the  Fiquet 
bottom-land;  a  cannon-shot  from  the  outposts  had 
answered  them;  that  had  somewhat  roused  us,  for 
we  were  all  thoughtful. 

"  Father  Moses,"  said  the  sergeant,  "  the  chil- 
dren are  pale !  "  _, 

"  I  know  it  very  well,"  I  replied,  sorrowfully. 

He  said  no  more,  and  as  Zeffen  had  just  gone  out 
to  weep,  he  took  little  David  on  his  knee,  and  looked 
at  him  for  a  long  time.  Sorle  held  little  Esdras 
asleep  in  her  arms.  Safel  took  off  the  table-cloth 
and  rolled  up  the  napkins,  to  put  them  back  in  the 
closet. 

"  Yes,"  said  the  sergeant.  "  "We  must  take  care, 
Father  Moses;  we  will  talk  about  it  another  time." 


THE   BLOCKADE  249 

I  looked  at  him  with  surprise;  he  emptied  his 
pipe  at  the  edge  of  the  stove,  and  went  out,  making 
a  sign  for  me  to  follow  him.  Zeffen  came  in,  and  I 
took  a  candle  from  her  hand.  The  sergeant  led  me 
to  his  little  room  at  the  end  of  the  passage,  shut  the 
door,  sat  down  on  the  foot  of  the  bed,  and  said : 

"  Father  Moses,  do  not  be  frightened — but  the 
typhus  has  just  broken  out  again  in  the  city;  five 
soldiers  were  taken  to  the  hospital  this  morning; 
the  commandant  of  the  place,  Moulin,  is  taken.  I 
hear,  too,  of  a  woman  and  three  children !  " 

He  looked  at  me,  and  I  felt  cold  all  over. 

"  Yes,"  said  he,  "  I  have  known  this  disease  for  a 
long  time;  we  had  it  in  Poland,  in  Russia,  after  the 
retreat,  and  in  Germany.  It  always  comes  from 
poor  nourishment." 

Then  I  could  not  help  sobbing  and  exclaim- 
ing: 

"Ah,  tell  me!  What  can  I  do?  If  I  coufll  give 
my  life  for  my  children,  it  would  all  be  well!  But 
what  can  I  do?  " 

"  To-morrow,  Father  Moses,  I  will  bring  you  my 
portion  of  meat,  and  you  shall  have  soup  made  of 
it  for  your  children.  Madame  Sorle  may  take  the 
piece  at  the  market,  or,  if  you  prefer,  I  will  bring  it 
myself.  You  shall  have  all  my  portions  of  fresh 
meat  till  the  blockade  is  over,  Father  Moses." 


250  THE   BLOCKADE 

I  was  so  moved  bj  this,  that  I  went  to  him  and 
took  his  hand,  saying: 

"  Sergeant,  you  are  a  noble  man!  Forgive  me,  I 
have  thought  evil  of  you." 

"  What  about?  "  said  he,  scowling. 

"  About  the  landwehr  at  the  tile-kiln!  " 

"Ah,  good!  That  is  a  different  thing!  I  do  not 
care  about  that,"  said  he.  "  If  you  knew  all  the 
kaiscrlichs  that  I  have  despatched  these  ten  years, 
you  would  have  thought  more  evil  of  me.  But  that 
is  not  what  we  are  talking  about;  you  accept, 
Father  Moses?" 

"  And  you,  sergeant,"  said  I,  "  what  will  you 
have  to  eat? " 

"  Do  not  be  troubled  about  that;  Sergeant  Tru- 
bert  has  never  been  in  want !  " 

I  wanted  to  thank  him.  "  Good !  "  said  he,  "  that 
is  all  understood.  I  cannot  give  you  a  pike,  or  a  fat 
goose,  but  a  good  soup  in  blockade  times  is  worth 
something,  too." 

He  laughed  and  shook  hands  with  me.  As  for 
myself  I  was  quite  overcome,  and  my  eyes  were  full 
of  tears. 

"  Let  us  go;  good-night!  "  said  he,  as  he  led  me 
to  the  door.  "It  will  all  come  out  right!  Tell 
Madame  Sorle  that  it  will  all  come  out  right !  " 

I  blessed  that  man  as  I  went  out,  and  I  told  it  all 


THE   BLOCKADE  251 

to  Sorle,  who  was  still  more  affected  by  it  than  my- 
self. We  could  not  refuse;  it  was  for  the  children! 
and  during  the  last  week  there  had  been  nothing 
but  horse-meat  in  the  market. 

So  the  next  morning  we  had  fresh  meat  to  make 
soup  for  those  poor  little  ones.  But  the  dreadful 
malady  was  already  upon  us,  Fritz!  Now,  when  I 
think  of  it,  after  all  these  years,  I  am  quite  over- 
come. However,  I  cannot  complain;  before  going 
to  take  the  bit  of  meat,  I  had  consulted  our  old  rabbi 
about  the  quality  of  this  meat  according  to  the  law, 
and  he  had  replied: 

"  The  first  law  is  to  save  Israel ;  but  how  can 
Israel  be  saved  if  the  children  perish  ?  " 

But  after  a  while  I  remembered  that  other  law: 

"  The  life  of  the  flesh  is  in  the  blood,  therefore  I 
said  unto  the  children  of  Israel:  Ye  shall  eat  the 
blood  of  no  manner  of  flesh,  for  the  life  of  all  flesh 
is  the  blood  thereof;  whosoever  eateth  it  shall  be 
cut  off;  and  whosoever  eateth  of  any  sick  beast 
shall  be  unclean." 

In  my  great  misery  the  words  of  the  Lord  came 
to  me,  and  I  wept. 

All  these  animals  had  been  sick  for  six  weeks; 
they  lived  in  the  mire,  exposed  to  the  snow  and 
wind,  between  the  arsenal  and  guard  bastions. 

The  soldiers,  almost  all  of  whom  were  sons  of 


252  THE   BLOCKADE 

peasants,  ought  to  have  known  that  they  could  not 
live  in  the  open  air,  in  such  cold  weather;  a  shelter 
could  easily  have  been  made.  But  when  officers 
take  the  whole  charge,  nobody  else  thinks  of  any- 
thing; they  even  forget  their  own  village  trades. 
And  if,  unfortunately,  their  commanders  do  not 
give  the  order,  nothing  is  done. 

This  is  the  reason  that  the  animals  had  neither 
flesh  nor  fat ;  this  is  the  reason  that  they  were  noth- 
ing but  miserable,  trembling  carcasses,  and  their 
suffering,  unhealthy  flesh  had  become  unclean,  ac- 
cording to  the  law  of  God. 

Many  of  the  soldiers  died.  The  wind  brought  to 
the  city  the  bad  air  from  the  bodies,  scattered  by 
hundreds  around  the  tile-kiln,  the  Ozillo  farm,  and 
in  the  gardens,  and  this  also  caused  much  sickness. 

The  justice  of  the  Lord  is  shown  in  all  things; 
when  the  living  neglect  their  duties  toward  the 
dead,  they  perish. 

I  have  often  remembered  these  things  when  it 
was  too  late,  so  that  I  think  of  them  only  with 
grief. 


xvm 

DEATH    OF    LITTLE    DAVTD 

THE  most  painful  of  all  my  recollections,  Fritz,  Is 
the  way  in  which  that  terrible  disease  came  to  our 
family. 

On  the  twelfth  of  March  we  heard  of  a  large 
number  of  men,  women,  and  children  who  were 
dying.  We  dared  not  listen;  we  said: 

"  No  one  in  our  house  is  sick,  the  Lord  watches 
over  us !  " 

After  David  had  come,  after  supper,  to  cuddle  in 
my  arms,  with  his  little  hand  on  my  shoulder,  I 
looked  at  him ;  he  seemed  very  drowsy,  but  children 
are  always  sleepy  at  night.  Esdras  was  already 
asleep,  and  Safel  had  just  bidden  us  good-night. 

At  last  Zeffen  took  the  child,  and  we  all  went  to 
bed. 

That  night  the  Russians  did  not  fire;  perhaps 
the  typhus  was  among  them,  too.  I  do  not  know. 

About  midnight,  when  by  God's  goodness  we 
were  asleep,  I  heard  a  terrible  cry. 
253 


254  THE    BLOCKADE 

I  listened,  and  Sorle  said  to  me: 

"It  is  Zeffen!" 

I  rose  at  once,  and  tried  to  light  the  lamp;  but  I 
was  so  much  agitated  that  I  could  not  find  anything. 

Sorle  struck  a  light,  I  drew  on  my  pantaloons  and 
ran  to  the  door.  But  I  was  hardly  in  the  passage- 
way when  Zeffen  came  out  of  her  room  like  an  in- 
sane person,  with  her  long  black  hair  all  loose. 

"  The  child !  "  she  screamed. 

Sorle  followed  me.  We  went  in,  we  leaned  over 
the  cradle.  The  two  children  seemed  to  be  sleeping; 
Esdras  all  rosy,  David  as  white  as  snow. 

At  first  I  saw  nothing,  I  was  so  frightened,  but 
at  last  I  took  up  David  to  waken  him;  I  shook  him, 
and  called,  "David!" 

And  then  we  first  saw  that  his  eyes  were  open 
and  fixed. 

"  Wake  him !  wake  him !  "  cried  Zeffen. 

Sorle  took  my  hands  and  said: 

"Quick!  make  a  fire!  heat  some  water !" 

And  we  laid  him  across  the  bed,  shaking  him  and 
calling  him  by  name.  Little  Esdras  began  to  cry. 

"  Light  a  fire !  "  said  Sorle  again  to  me.  "  And, 
Zeffen,  be  quiet !  It  does  no  good  to  cry  so !  Quick, 
quick,  a  fire !  " 

But  Zeffen  cried  out  incessantly,  "  My  poor 
child!  " 


THE   BLOCKADE 


255 


"He  will  soon  be  warm  again,"  said  Sorle; 
"  only,  Moses,  make  haste  and  dress  yourself,  and 
run  for  Doctor  Steinbrenner." 

She  was  pale  and  more  alarmed  than  we,  but  this 
brave  woman  never  lost  her  presence  of  mind  or 
her  courage.  She  had  made  a  fire,  and  the  fagots 
were  crackling  in  the  chimney. 

I  ran  to  get  my  cloak,  and  went  down,  thinking 
to  myself: 

"  The  Lord  have  mercy  upon  us !  If  the  child 
dies  I  shall  not  survive  him !  Xo,  he  is  the  one  that 
I  love  best,  I  could  not  survive  him !  " 

For  you  know,  Fritz,  that  the  child  who  is  most 
unhappy,  or  in  the  greatest  danger,  is  always  the 
one  that  we  love  best;  he  needs  us  the  most;  we 
forget  the  others.  The  Lord  has  ordered  it  so, 
doubtless  for  the  greatest  good. 

I  was  already  running  in  the  street. 

A  darker  night  was  never  known.  The  wind 
blew  from  the  Rhine,  the  snow  blew  about  like  dust ; 
here  and  there  the  lighted  windows  showed  where 
people  were  watching  the  sick. 

My  head  was  uncovered,  yet  I  did  not  feel  the 
cold.  I  cried  within  myself: 

"  The  last  day  had  come!  That  day  of  which  the 
Lord  has  said :  '  Afore  the  harvest,  when  the  bud 
is  perfect,  and  the  sour  grape  is  ripening  in  the 


256  THE   BLOCKADE 

flower,  he  shall  both  cut  off  the  sprigs  with  pruning- 
hooks,  and  take  away  and  cut  down  the  branches.' ' 

Full  of  these  fearful  thoughts,  I  went  across  the 
large  market-place,  where  the  wind  was  tossing  the 
old  elms,  full  of  frost. 

As  the  clock  struck  one,  I  pushed  open  Doctor 
Steinbrenner's  door;  its  large  pulley  rattled  in  the 
vestibule.  As  I  was  groping  about,  trying  to  find 
the  railing,  the  servant  appeared  with  a  light  at  the 
top  of  the  stairs. 

"  Who  is  there?  "  she  asked,  holding  the  lantern 
before  her. 

"  Ah !  "  I  replied,  "  tell  the  doctor  to  come  imme- 
diately; we  have  a  child  sick,  very  sick." 

I  could  not  restrain  my  sobs. 

"  Come  up,  Monsieur  Moses,"  said  the  girl : 
"  the  doctor  has  just  come  in,  and  has  not  gone  to 
bed.  Come  up  a  moment  and  warm  yourself !  " 

But  Father  Steinbrenner  had  heard  it  all. 

"  Very  well,  Theresa !  "  said  he,  coming  out  of 
his  room ;  "  keep  the  fire  burning.  I  shall  be  back 
in  an  hour  at  latest." 

He  had  already  put  on  his  large  three-cornered 
cap,  and  his  goatVhair  great-coat. 

We  walked  across  the  square  without  speaking. 
I  went  first;  in  a  few  minutes  we  ascended  our 
stairs. 


THE   BLOCKADE  257 

Sorle  had  placed  a  candle  at  the  top  of  the  stairs; 
I  took  it  and  led  M.  Steinbrenner  to  the  baby's 
room. 

All  seemed  quiet  as  we  entered.  Zeffen  was  sit- 
ting in  an  arm-chair  behind  the  door,  with  her  head 
on  her  knees,  and  her  shoulders  uncovered ;  she  was 
no  longer  crying  but  weeping.  The  child  was  in 
bed.  Sorle,  standing  at  its  side,  looked  at  us. 

The  doctor  laid  his  cap  on  the  bureau. 

"  It  is  too  warm  here,"  said  he,  "  give  us  a  little 
air." 

Then  he  went  to  the  bed.  Zeffen  had  risen  from 
her  chair,  as  pale  as  death.  The  doctor  took  the 
lamp,  and  looked  at  our  poor  little  David ;  he  raised 
the  coverlet  and  lifted  out  the  little  round  limbs; 
he  listened  to  the  breathing.  Esdras  having  begun 
to  cry,  he  turned  round  and  said :  "  Take  the  other 
child  away  from  this  room — we  must  be  quiet!  and 
besides,  the  air  of  a  sick-room  is  not  good  for  such 
small  children." 

He  gave  me  a  side  look.  I  understood  what  he 
meant  to  say.  It  was  the  typhus!  I  looked  at  my 
wife ;  she  understood  it  all. 

I  felt  at  that  moment  as  if  my  heart  were  torn; 
I  wanted  to  groan,  but  Zeffen  was  there  leaning 
over,  behind  us,  and  I  said  nothing;  nor  did  Sorle. 

The  doctor  asked  for  paper  to  write  a  prescription, 
17 


258  THE   BLOCKADE 

and  we  went  out  together.  I  led  him  to  our  room, 
and  shut  the  door,  and  began  to  sob. 

"  Moses,"  said  he,  "  you  are  a  man,  do  not  weep! 
Remember  that  you  ought  to  set  an  example  of 
courage  to  two  poor  women." 

"  Is  there  no  hope?  "  I  asked  him  in  a  low  voice, 
afraid  of  being  heard. 

"  It  is  the  typhus!  "  said  he.  "  We  will  do  what 
we  can.  There,  that  is  the  prescription;  go  to  Tri- 
bolin's;  his  boy  is  up  at  night  now,  and  he  will  give 
you  the  medicine.  Be  quick!  And  then,  in 
heaven's  name,  take  the  other  child  out  of  that 
room,  and  your  daughter  too,  if  possible.  Try  to 
find  some  one  out  of  the  family,  accustomed  to  sick- 
ness; the  typhus  is  contagious." 

I  said  nothing. 

He  took  his  cap  and  went. 

Now  what  can  I  say  more?  The  typhus  is  a 
disease  engendered  by  death  itself;  the  prophet 
speaks  of  it,  when  he  says: 

"  Hell  from  beneath  is  moved  for  thee,  to  meet 
thee  at  thy  coming !  " 

How  many  have  I  seen  die  of  the  typhus  in  our 
hospitals,  on  the  Saverne  hill,  and  elsewhere! 

When  men  tear  each  other  to  pieces,  without 
mercy,  why  should  not  death  come  to  help  them? 
But  what  had  this  poor  babe  done  that  it  must  die 


THE    BLOCKADE  259 

so  soon?  This,  Fritz,  is  the  most  dreadful  thing, 
that  all  must  suffer  for  the  crimes  of  a  few.  Yes, 
when  I  think  that  my  child  died  of  this  pestilence, 
which  war  had  brought  from  the  heart  of  Russia  to 
our  homes,  and  which  ravaged  all  Alsace  and  Lor- 
raine for  six  months,  instead  of  accusing  God,  as 
the  impious  do,  I  accuse  men.  Has  not  God  given 
them  reason  ?  And  when  they  do  not  use  it — when 
they  let  themselves  rage  against  each  other  like 
brutes — is  He  to  blame  for  it? 

But  of  what  use  are  right  ideas,  when  we  are 
suffering ! 

I  remember  that  the  sickness  lasted  for  six  days, 
and  those  were  the  cruelest  days  of  my  life.  I 
feared  for  my  wife,  for  my  daughter,  for  Safel,  for 
Esdras.  I  sat  in  a  corner,  listening  to  the  babe's 
breathing.  Sometimes  he  seemed  to  breathe  no 
longer.  Then  a  chill  passed  over  me;  I  went  to 
him  and  listened.  And  when,  by  chance,  Zeffen 
came,  in  spite  of  the  doctor's  prohibition,  I  went 
into  a  sort  of  fury ;  I  pushed  her  out  by  the  shoul- 
ders, trembling. 

"  But  he  is  my  child !  He  is  my  child !  "  she 
said. 

"  And  art  thou  not  my  child  too?  "  said  I.  "  I 
do  not  want  you  all  to  die !  " 

Then  I  burst  into  tears,  and  fell  into  my  chair, 


260  THE   BLOCKADE 

looking  straight  before  me,  my  strength  all  gone;  I 
was  exhausted  with  grief. 

Sorle  came  and  went,  with  firm-closed  lips;  she 
prepared  everything,  and  cared  for  everybody. 

At  that  time  musk  was  the  remedy  for  typhus; 
the  house  was  full  of  musk.  Often  the  idea  seized 
me  that  Esdras,  too,  was  going  to  be  sick.  Ah,  if 
having  children  is  the  greatest  happiness  in  the 
world,  what  agony  is  it  to  see  them  suffer!  How 
fearful  to  think  of  losing  them! — to  be  there,  to 
hear  their  labored  breathing,  their  delirium,  to 
watch  their  sinking  from  hour  to  hour,  from  minute 
to  minute,  and  to  exclaim  from  the  depths  of  the 
soul: 

"  Death  is  near  at  hand !  There  is  nothing,  noth- 
ing more  that  can  be  done  to  save  thee,  my  child! 
I  cannot  give  thee  my  life!  Death  does  not  wish 
for  it!" 

What  heart-rending  and  what  anguish,  till  the 
last  moment  when  all  is  over! 

Then,  Fritz,  money,  the  blockade,  the  famine, 
the  general  desolation — all  were  forgotten.  I 
hardly  saw  the  sergeant  open  our  door  every  morn- 
ing, and  look  in,  asking : 

"  Well,  Father  Moses,  well?  " 

I  did  not  know  what  he  said ;  I  paid  no  attention 
to  him. 


THE   BLOCKADE  zti 

But,  what  I  always  think  of  with  pleasure,  what 
I  am  always  proud  of,  is  that,  in  the  midst  of  all 
this  trouble,  when  Sorle,  Zeffen,  myself,  and  every- 
body were  beside  ourselves,  when  we  forgot  all 
about  our  business,  and  let  everything  go,  little 
Saf  el  at  once  took  charge  of  our  shop.  Every  morn- 
ing we  heard  him  rise  at  six  o'clock,  go  down,  opeii 
the  warehouse,  take  up  one  or  two  pitchers  of 
brandy,  and  begin  to  serve  the  customers. 

No  one  had  said  a  word  to  him  about  it,  but 
Saf  el  had  a  genius  for  trade.  And  if  anything  could 
console  a  father  in  such  troubles,  it  would  be  to  see 
himself,  as  it  were,  living  over  again  in  so  young  a 
child,  and  to  say  to  himself:  "  At  least  the  good 
race  is  not  extinct;  it  still  remains  to  preserve  com- 
mon-sense in  the  world."  Yes,  it  is  the  only  con- 
solation which  a  man  can  have. 

Our  schabesgoie  did  the  work  in  the  kitchen, 
and  old  Lanche  helped  us  watch,  but  Safel  took  the 
charge  of  the  shop;  his  mother  and  I  thought  of 
nothing  but  our  little  David. 

He  died  in  the  night  of  the  eighteenth  of  March, 
the  day  when  the  fire  broke  out  in  Captain  Caba- 
nier's  house. 

That  same  night  two  shells  fell  upon  our  house; 
the  blindage  made  them  roll  into  the  court,  where 
they  both  burst,  shattering  the  laundry  windows 


262  THE    BLOCKADE 

and  demolishing  the  butcher's  door,  which  fell  down 
at  once  with  a  fearful  crash. 

It  was  the  most  powerful  bombardment  since  the 
blockade  began,  for,  as  soon  as  the  enemy  saw  the 
flame  ascending,  they  fired  from  Mittelbronn,  from 
the  Barracks,  and  the  Piquet  lowlands,  to  prevent 
its  being  extinguished. 

I  stayed  all  the  while  with  Sorle,  near  the  babe's 
bed,  and  the  noise  of  the  bursting  shells  did  not 
disturb  us. 

The  unhappy  do  not  cling  to  life;  and  then  the 
child  was  so  sick!  There  were  blue  spots  all  over 
his  body. 

The  end  was  drawing  near. 

I  walked  the  room.  Without  they  were  crying 
"Fire!  Fire!" 

People  passed  in  the  street  like  a  torrent.  We 
heard  those  returning  from  the  fire  telling  the  news, 
the  engines  hurrying  by,  the  soldiers  ranging  the 
crowd  in  the  line,  the  shells  bursting  at  the  right 
and  left. 

Before  our  windows  the  long  trails  of  red  flame 
descended  upon  the  roofs  in  front,  and  shattered  the 
glass  of  the  windows.  Our  cannon  all  around  the 
city  replied  to  the  enemy.  Now  and  then  we  heard 
the  cry:  "Room!  Room!"  as  the  wounded  were 
carried  away. 


41 BARUCH  !   BARUCH  !   SAVE  TOUR  CHILD." 


THE   BLOCKADE  263 

Twice  some  pickets  came  up  into  my  room  to  put 
me  in  the  line,  but,  on  seeing  me  sitting  with  Sorle 
by  our  child,  they  went  down  again. 

The  first  shell  burst  at  our  house  about  eleven 
o'clock,  the  second  at  four  in  the  morning;  every- 
thing shook,  from  the  garret  to  the  cellar;  the  floor, 
the  bed,  the  furniture  seemed  to  be  upheaved;  but, 
in  our  exhaustion  and  despair,  we  did  not  speak  a 
single  word. 

Zeffen  came  running  to  us  with  Esdras  and  little 
Safel,  at  the  first  explosion.  It  was  evident  that 
little  David  was  dying.  Old  Lanche  and  Sorle 
were  sitting,  sobbing.  Zeffen  began  to  cry. 

I  opened  the  windows  wide,  to  admit  the  air,  and 
the  powder-smoke  which  covered  the  city  came  into 
the  room. 

Safel  saw  at  once  that  the  hour  was  at  hand.  I 
needed  only  to  look  at  him,  and  he  went  out,  and 
soon  returned  by  a  side  street,  notwithstanding  the 
crowd,  with  Kalmes  the  chanter,  who  began  to  re- 
cite the  prayer  of  the  dying: 

"The  Lord  reigneth!  The  Lord  reigneth !  The 
Lord  shall  reign  everywhere  and  forever ! 

"  Praise,  everywhere  and  forever,  the  name  of 
His  glorious  reign! 

"The  Lord  is  God!  The  Lord  is  God!  The 
Lord  is  God! 


264  THE   BLOCKADE 

"  Hear,  oh  Israel,  the  Lord  our  God  is  one  God ! 

•"  Go,  then,  where  the  Lord  calleth  thee — go,  and 
may  His  mercy  help  thee! 

"  May  the  Lord,  our  God,  be  with  thee;  may  His 
immortal  angels  lead  thee  to  heaven,  and  may  the 
righteous  be  glad  when  the  Lord  shall  receive  thee 
into  His  bosom! 

"  God  of  mercy,  receive  this  soul  into  the  midst 
of  eternal  joys!  " 

Sorle  and  I  repeated,  weeping,  those  holy  words. 
Zeffen  lay  as  if  dead,  her  arms  extended  across  the 
bed,  over  the  feet  of  her  child.  Her  brother  Safel 
stood  behind  her,  weeping  bitterly,  and  calling 
softly,  "Zeffen!  Zeffen!7' 

But  she  did  not  hear;  her  soul  was  lost  in  infinite 
sorrows. 

Without,  the  cries  of  "  Fire !  "  the  orders  for  the 
engines,  the  tumult  of  the  crowd,  the  rolling  of  the 
cannonade  still  continued;  the  flashes,  one  after 
another,  lighted  up  the  darkness. 

"What  a  night,  Fritz !    What  a  night ! 

Suddenly  Safel,  who  was  leaning  over  under  the 
curtain,  turned  round  to  us  in  terror.  My  wife  and 
I  ran,  and  saw  that  the  child  was  dead.  We  raised 
our  hands,  sobbing,  to  indicate  it.  The  chanter 
ceased  his  psalm.  Our  David  was  dead! 

The  most  terrible  thing  was  the  mother's  cry! 


THE    BLOCKADE  265 

She  lay,  stretched  out,  as  if  she  had  fainted ;  but 
when  the  chanter  leaned  over  and  closed  the  lips, 
saying  "  Amen !  "  she  rose,  lifted  the  little  one, 
looked  at  him,  then,  raising  him  above  her  head, 
began  to  run  toward  the  door,  crying  out  with  a 
heart-rending  voice : 

"  Baruch !  Baruch !  save  our  child !  " 

She  was  mad,  Fritz !  In  this  last  terror  I  stopped 
her,  and,  by  main  force,  took  from  her  the  little 
body  which  she  was  carrying  away.  And  Sorle, 
throwing  her  arms  round  her,  with  ceaseless  groan- 
ings,  Mother  Lanche,  the  chanter,  Safel,  all  led  her 
away. 

I  remained  alone,  and  I  heard  them  go  down, 
leading  away  my  daughter. 

How  can  a  man  endure  such  sorrows? 

I  put  David  back  in  the  bed  and  covered  him, 
because  of  the  open  windows.  I  knew  that  he  was 
dead,  but  it  seemed  to  me  as  if  he  would  be  cold. 
I  looked  at  him  for  a  long  time,  so  as  to  retain  that 
beautiful  face  in  my  heart. 

It  was  all  heart-rending — all!  I  felt  as  if  my 
bowels  were  torn  from  me,  and  in  my  madness  I 
accused  the  Lord,  and  said : 

"  I  am  the  man  that  hath  seen  affliction  by  the 
rod  of  Thy  wrath.  Surely  against  me  is  He  turned. 
My  flesh  and  my  skin  hath  He  made  old:  He  hath 


266  THE   BLOCKADE 

broken  my  bones.  He  hath  set  me  in  dark  places. 
Also  when  1  cry  and  shout  He  shutteth  out  my 
prayer.  He  was  unto  me  as  a  lion  in  secret  places !  " 

Thus  I  walked  about,  groaning  and  even  blas- 
pheming. But  God  in  His  mercy  forgave  me;  He 
knew  that  it  was  not  myself  that  spoke,  but  my 
despair. 

At  last  I  sat  down,  the  others  came  back.  Sorle 
sat  next  to  me  in  silence.  Saf  el  said  to  me : 

"  Zeffen  has  gone  to  the  rabbi's  with  Esdras." 

I  covered  my  head  without  answering  him. 

Then  some  women  came  with  old  Lanche ;  I  took 
Sorle  by  the  hand,  and  we  went  into  the  large  room, 
without  speaking  a  word. 

The  mere  sight  of  this  room,  where  the  two  little 
brothers  had  played  so  long,  made  my  tears  come 
afresh,  and  Sorle,  Saf  el,  and  I  wept  together.  The 
house  was  full  of  people ;  it  might  have  been  eight 
o'clock,  and  they  knew  already  that  we  had  a  child 
dead. 


YTY 

THE    PASSOVEB 

THEN,  Fritz,  the  funeral  rites  began.  All  who 
died  of  typhus  had  to  be  buried  the  same  day: 
Christians  behind  the  church,  and  Jews  in  the 
trenches,  in  the  place  now  occupied  by  the  riding- 
school. 

Old  women  were  already  there  to  wash  the  poor 
little  body,  and  comb  the  hair,  and  cut  the  nails, 
according  to  the  law  of  the  Lord.  Some  of  them 
sewed  the  winding-sheet. 

The  open  windows  admitted  the  air,  the  shutters 
struck  against  the  walls.  The  schamess  *  went 
through  the  streets,  striking  the  doors  with  his 
mace,  to  summon  our  brethren. 

Sorle  sat  upon  the  ground  with  her  head  veiled. 
Hearing  Desmarets  come  up  the  stairs,  I  had  cour- 
age to  go  and  meet  him,  and  show  him  the  room. 
The  poor  angel  was  in  his  little  shirt  on  the  floor, 
the  head  raised  a  little  on  some  straw,  and  the  little 

*  Beadle. 
267 


268  THE   BLOCKADE 

thaleth  in  his  fingers.  He  was  so  beautiful,  with 
his  brown  hair,  and  half -opened  lips,  that  I  thought 
as  I  looked  at  him :  "  The  Lord  wanted  to  havp 
thee  near  his  throne!  " 

And  my  tears  fell  silently :  my  beard  was  full  of 
them. 

Desmarets  then  took  the  measure  and  went. 
Half  an  hour  afterward,  he  returned  with  the  little 
pine  coffin  under  his  arm,  and  the  house  was  filled 
anew  with  lamentations. 

I  could  not  see  the  coffin  closed !  I  went  and  sat 
upon  the  sack  of  ashes,  covering  my  face  with  both 
hands,  and  crying  in  my  heart  like  Jacob,  "  Surely 
I  shall  go  down  to  the  grave  with  this  child ;  I  shall 
not  survive  him." 

Only  a  very  few  of  our  brethren  came,  for  a  panic 
was  in  the  city;  men  knew  that  the  angel  of  death 
was  passing  by,  and  that  drops  of  blood  rained  from 
his  sword  upon  the  houses;  each  emptied  the  water 
from  his  jug  upon  the  threshold  and  entered  quickly. 
But  the  best  of  them  came  silently,  and  as  evening 
approached,  it  was  necessary  to  go  and  descend  by 
the  postern. 

I  was  the  only  one  of  our  family.  Sorle  was  not 
able  to  follow  me,  nor  Zeffen.  I  was  the  only  one 
to  throw  the  shovelful  of  earth.  My  strength  all 
left  me,  they  had  to  lead  me  back  to  our  door.  The 


THE    BLOCKADE  269 

sergeant  held  me  by  the  arm;  he  spoke  to  me  and 
I  did  not  hear  him ;  I  was  as  if  dead. 

All  else  that  I  remember  of  that  dreadful  day,  is 
the  moment  when,  having  come  into  the  house, 
sitting  on  the  sack,  before  our  cold  hearth,  with  bare 
feet  and  bent  head,  and  my  soul  in  the  depths,  the 
schamcss  came  to  me,  touched  my  shoulder  and 
made  me  rise;  and  then  took  his  knife  from  his 
pocket  and  rent  my  garment,  tearing  it  to  the  hip. 
This  blow  was  the  last  and  the  most  dreadful ;  I  fell 
back,  murmuring  with  Job : 

"  Let  the  day  perish  wherein  I  was  born,  and  the 
night  in  which  it  was  said,  there  is  a  man  child  con- 
ceived !  Let  a  cloud  dwell  upon  it,  let  the  blackness 
of  the  day  terrify  it!  For  mourning,  the  true 
mourning  does  not  come  down  from  the  father  to 
the  child,  but  goes  up  from  the  child  to  the  father. 
AYhy  did  the  knees  prevent  me?  or  why  the  breasts 
that  I  should  suck?  For  now  I  should  have  lain  still 
in  the  tomb  and  been  at  rest !  " 

And  my  grief,  Fritz,  had  no  bounds;  "  What  will 
Baruch  say,"  I  exclaimed,  "and  what  shall  I  answer 
him  when  he  asks  me  to  give  him  back  his  child  ?  " 

I  felt  no  longer  any  interest  in  our  business. 
Zeffen  lived  with  the  old  rabbi;  her  mother  spent 
the  days  with  her,  to  take  care  of  Esdras  and  com- 
fort her. 


270  THE   BLOCKADE 

Every  part  of  our  house  was  opened;  the  schabes- 
go'ie  burned  sugar  and  spices,  and  the  air  from  with- 
out had  free  circulation.  Saf  el  went  on  selling. 

As  for  myself,  I  sat  before  the  hearth  in  the 
morning,  cooked  some  potatoes,  and  ate  them  with 
a  little  salt,  and  then  went  out,  without  thought  or 
aim.  I  wandered  sometimes  to  the  right,  some- 
times to  the  left,  toward  the  old  gendarmerie, 
around  the  ramparts,  in  out-of-the-way  places. 

I  could  not  bear  to  see  any  one,  especially  those 
who  had  known  the  child. 

Then,  Fritz,  our  miseries  were  at  their  height; 
famine,  cold,  all  kinds  of  sufferings  weighed  upon 
the  city;  faces  grew  thin,  and  women  and  children 
were  seen,  half-naked  and  trembling,  groping  in 
the  shadow  in  the  deserted  by-ways. 

Ah!  such  miseries  will  never  return!  We  have 
no  more  such  abominable  wars,  lasting  twenty 
years,  when  the  highways  looked  like  ruts,  and  the 
roads  like  streams  of  mud;  when  the  ground  re- 
mained untilled  for  want  of  husbandmen,  when 
houses  sank  for  want  of  inhabitants;  when  the 
poor  went  barefoot  and  the  rich  in  wooden  shoes, 
while  the  superior  officers  passed  by  on  superb 
horses,  looking  down  contemptuously  on  the  whole 
human  race. 

We  could  not  endure  that  now! 


"THE  LORD  WANTED  TO  HAVE  THEE  NEAR  HIS  THRONE!" 


THE   BLOCKADE  271 

But  at  that  time  everything  in  the  nation  was  de- 
stroyed and  humiliated;  the  citizens  and  the  peo- 
ple had  nothing  left;  force  was  everything.  If  a 
man  said,  "  But  there  is  such  a  thing  as  justice, 
right,  truth !  "  the  way  was  to  answer  with  a  smile, 
"  I  do  not  understand  you!  "  and  you  were  taken 
for  a  man  of  sense  and  experience,  who  would  make 
his  way. 

Then,  in  the  midst  of  my  sorrow,  I  saw  these 
things  without  thinking  about  them;  but  since  then 
they  have  come  back  to  me,  and  thousands  of 
others;  all  the  survivors  of  those  days  can  remem- 
ber them,  too. 

One  morning,  I  was  under  the  old  market,  look- 
ing at  the  wretches  as  they  bought  meat.  At  that 
time  they  knocked  down  the  horses  of  Rouge-Colas 
and  those  of  the  gendarmes,  as  fleshless  as  the  cattle 
in  the  trenches,  and  sold  the  meat  at  very  high 
prices. 

I  looked  at  the  swarms  of  wrinkled  old  women, 
of  hollow-eyed  citizens,  all  these  wretched  creatures 
crowding  before  Frantz  Sepel's  stall,  while  he  dis- 
tributed bits  of  carcass  to  them. 

Frantz's  large  dogs  were  seen  no  longer  prowling 
about  the  market,  licking  up  the  bloody  scraps. 
The  dried  hands  of  old  women  were  stretched  out 
at  the  end  of  their  fleshless  arms,  to  snatch  every- 


272  THE   BLOCKADE 

thing;  weak  voices  called  out  entreatingly,  "  A  lit- 
tle more  liver,  Monsieur  Frantz,  so  that  we  can 
make  merry!  " 

I  saw  all  this  under  the  great  dark  roof,  through 
which  a  little  light  came,  in  the  holes  made  by  the 
shells.  In  the  distance,  among  the  worm-eaten 
pillars,  some  soldiers,  under  the  arch  of  the  guard- 
house, with  their  old  capes  hanging  down  their 
thighs,  were  also  looking  on; — it  seemed  like  a 
dream. 

My  great  sorrow  accorded  with  these  sad  sights. 
I  was  about  leaving  at  the  end  of  a  half  hour,  when 
I  saw  Burguet  coming  along  by  Father  Brainstein's 
old  country-house,  which  was  now  staved  in  by 
the  shells,  and  leaning,  all  shattered,  over  the 
street. 

Burguet  had  told  me  several  days  before  our  af- 
fliction, that  his  maid-servant  was  sick.  I  had 
thought  no  more  of  it,  but  now  it  came  to  me. 

He  looked  so  changed,  so  thin,  his  cheeks  so 
marked  by  wrinkles,  it  seemed  as  if  years  had  passed 
since  I  had  seen  him.  His  hat  came  down  to  his 
eyes,  and  his  beard,  at  least  a  fortnight  old,  had 
turned  gray.  He  came  in,  looking  round  in  all 
directions;  but  he  could  not  see  me  where  I  was,  in 
the  deep  shadow,  against  the  planks  of  the  old 
fodder-house;  and  he  stopped  behind  the  crowd  of 


THE   BLOCKADE  273 

old  women,  who  were  squeezed  in  a  semicircle  be- 
fore the  stall,  awaiting  their  turn. 

After  a  minute  he  put  some  sous  in  Frantz  Sepel's 
hand,  and  received  his  morsel,  which  he  hid  under 
his  cloak.  Then  looking  round  again,  he  was  going 
away  quickly,  with  his  head  down. 

This  sight  moved  my  heart:  I  hurried  away, 
raising  my  hands  to  heaven,  and  exclaiming:  "  Is 
it  possible?  Is  it  possible?  Burguet  too!  A  man 
of  his  genius  to  suffer  hunger  and  eat  carcasses! 
Oh,  what  times  of  trial!  " 

I  went  home,  completely  upset. 

We  had  not  many  provisions  left;  but,  still,  the 
next  morning,  as  Saf  el  was  going  down  to  open  the 
shop,  I  said  to  him : 

"  Stop,  my  child,  take  this  little  basket  to  M. 
Burguet;  it  is  some  potatoes  and  salt  beef.  Take 
care  that  nobody  sees  it,  they  would  take  it  from 
you.  Say  that  it  is  in  remembrance  of  the  poor 
deserter." 

The  child  went.    He  told  me  that  Burguet  wept. 

This,  Fritz,  is  what  must  be  seen  in  a  blockade, 
where  you  are  attacked  from  day  to  day.  This  is 
what  the  Germans  and  Spaniards  had  to  suffer,  and 
what  we  suffered  in  our  turn.  This  is  war! 

Even  the  siege  rations  were  almost  gone;  but 
Moulin,  the  commandant  of  the  place,  having  died 

IS 


274  THE   BLOCKADE 

of  typhus,  the  famine  did  not  prevent  the  lieuten- 
ant-colonel, who  took  his  place,  from  giving  balls 
and  fetes  to  the  envoys,  in  the  old  Thevenot  house. 
The  windows  were  bright,  music  played,  the  staff- 
officers  drank  punch  and  warm  wine,  to  make  be- 
lieve that  we  were  living  in  abundance.  There  was 
good  reason  for  bandaging  the  eyes  of  these  envoys 
till  they  reached  the  very  ball-room,  for,  if  they 
had  seen  the  look  of  the  people,  all  the  punch-bowls 
and  warm  wines  in  the  world  would  not  have  de- 
ceived them. 

All  this  time,  the  grave-digger  Mouyot  and  his 
two  boys  came  every  morning  to  take  their  two  or 
three  drops  of  brandy.  They  might  say  "  We  drink 
to  the  dead !  "  as  the  veterans  said  "  We  drink  to 
the  Cossacks!  "  Nobody  in  the  city  would  will- 
ingly have  undertaken  to  bury  those  who  had  died 
of  typhus;  they  alone,  after  taking  their  drop, 
dared  to  throw  the  bodies  from  the  hospital  upon  a 
cart,  and  pile  them  up  in  the  pit,  and  then  they 
passed  for  grave-diggers,  with  Father  Zebede. 

The  order  was  to  wrap  the  dead  in  a  sheet.  But 
who  saw  that  it  was  done?  Old  Mouyot  himself 
told  me  that  they  were  buried  in  their  cloaks  or 
vests,  as  it  might  be,  and  sometimes  entirely 
naked. 
.  For  every  corpse,  these  men  had  their  thirty-five 


THE   BLOCKADE  275 

sous;  Father  Mouyot,  the  blind  man,  can  tell  you 
so;  it  was  his  harvest. 

Toward  the  end  of  March,  in  the  midst  of  this 
fearful  want,  when  there  was  not  a  dog,  and  still 
less  a  cat,  to  be  seen  in  the  streets,  the  city  was  full 
of  evil  tidings;  rumors  of  battles  lost,  of  marches 
upon  Paris,  etc. 

As  the  envoys  had  been  received,  and  balls  given 
in  their  honor,  something  of  our  misfortunes  be- 
came known  either  through  the  family  or  the  ser- 
vants. 

Often,  in  wandering  through  the  streets  which 
ran  along  the  ramparts,  I  mounted  one  of  the  bas- 
tions,' looking  toward  Strasburg,  or  Metz,  or  Paris. 
I  had  no  fear  then  of  stray  balls.  I  looked  forth 
upon  the  thousand  bivouac  fires  scattered  over  the 
plain,  the  soldiers  of  the  enemy  returning  from  the 
villages  with  their  long  poles  hung  with  quarters 
of  meat,  at  others  crouched  around  the  little  fires 
which  shone  like  stars  upon  the  edge  of  the  forest, 
and  at  their  patrols  and  their  covered  batteries  from 
which  their  flag  was  flying. 

Sometimes  I  looked  at  the  smoke  of  the  chimneys 
at  Quatre-Vents,  or  Bichelberg,  or  Mittelbronn. 
Our  chimneys  had  no  smoke,  our  festive  days  were 
over. 

You  can  never  imagine  how  many  thoughts  come 


276  THE   BLOCKADE 

to  you,  when  you  are  so  shut  up,  as  your  eyes  follow 
the  long  white  highways,  and  you  imagine  your- 
self walking  there,  talking  with  people  about  the 
news,  asking  them  what  they  have  suffered,  and 
telling  them  what  you  have  yourself  endured. 

From  the  bastion  of  the  guard,  I  could  see  even 
the  white  peaks  of  the  Schneeberg;  I  imagined 
myself  in  the  midst  of  foresters,  wood-cutters,  and 
wood-splitters.  There  was  a  rumor  that  they  were 
defending  their  route  from  Schirmeck;  I  longed  to 
know  if  it  were  true. 

As  I  looked  toward  the  Maisons-Rouges,  on  the 
road  to  Paris,  I  imagined  myself  to  be  with  my  old 
friend  Leiser;  I  saw  him  at  his  hearth,  in  despair  at 
having  to  support  so  many  people,  for  the  Russian, 
Austrian,  and  Bavarian  staff-officers  remained  upon 
this  route,  and  new  regiments  went  by  continually. 

And  spring  came!  The  snow  began  to  melt  in 
the  furrows  and  behind  the  hedges.  The  great 
forests  of  La  Bonne-Fontaine  and  the  Barracks  be- 
gan to  change  their  tents. 

The  thing  which  affected  me  most,  as  I  have  often 
remembered,  was  hearing  the  first  lark  at  the  end 
of  March.  The  sky  was  entirely  clear,  and  I  looked 
up  to  see  the  bird.  I  thought  of  little  David,  and  I 
wept,  I  knew  not  why. 

Men  have  strange  thoughts ;  they  are  affected  by 


THE   BLOCKADE  277 

the  song  of  a  bird,  and  sometimes,  years  after,  the 
same  sounds  recall  the  same  emotions,  so  as  even  to 
make  them  weep. 

At  last  the  house  was  purified,  and  Zeffen  and 
Sorle  came  back  to  it. 

The  time  of  the  Passover  drew  near;  and  the 
floors  must  be  washed,  the  walls  scoured,  the  ves- 
sels cleansed.  In  the  midst  of  these  cares,  the  poor 
women  forgot,  in  some  measure,  our  affliction;  but 
as  the  time  drew  nearer  our  anxiety  increased; 
how,  in  the  midst  of  this  famine,  were  we  to  obey 
the  command  of  God: 

"  This  month  shall  be  the  first  month  of  the  year 
to  you. 

"  In  the  tenth  day  of  this  month  they  shall  take 
to  them  every  man  a  lamb,  according  to  the  house 
of  their  fathers,  a  lamb  for  a  house. 

"  Ye  shall  take  it  out  from  the  sheep  or  from  the 
goats. 

"  And  ye  shall  keep  it  until  the  fourteenth  day  of 
the  same  month. 

"  And  they  shall  eat  the  flesh  in  that  night,  roast 
with  fire,  and  unleavened  bread;  and  with  bitter 
herbs  shall  they  eat  it." 

But  where  was  the  sacrificial  lamb  to  be  found? 
Schmoule  alone,  the  old  scliamess,  had  thought  of 
it  for  us  all,  three  months  before;  he  had  nourished 


278  THE   BLOCKADE 

a  male  goat  of  that  year  in  his  cellar,  and  that  was 
the  goat  that  was  killed. 

Every  Jewish  family  had  a  portion  of  it,  small 
indeed,  but  the  law  of  the  Lord  was  fulfilled. 

"We  invited  on  that  day,  according  to  the  law,  one 
of  the  poorest  of  our  brethren,  Kalmes.  We  went 
together  to  the  synagogue;  the  prayers  were  re- 
cited, and  then  we  returned  to  partake  of  the  feast 
at  our  table. 

Everything  was  ready  and  according  to  the 
proper  order,  notwithstanding  the  great  destitution; 
the  white  cloth,  the  goblet  of  vinegar,  the  hard  egg, 
the  horseradish,  the  unleavened  bread,  and  the  flesh 
of  the  goat.  The  lamp  with  seven  burners  shone 
above  it ;  but  we  had  not  much  bread. 

Having  taken  my  seat  in  the  midst  of  my  family, 
Safel  took  the  jug  and  poured  water  upon  my 
hands;  then  we  all  bent  forward,  each  took  a  piece 
of  bread,  saying  with  heavy  hearts : 

"  This  is  the  bread  of  affliction  which  our  fathers 
ate  in  Egypt.  Whosoever  is  hungry,  let  him  come 
and  eat  with  us.  Whosoever  is  poor,  let  him  come 
and  make  the  Passover!  " 

We  sat  down  again,  and  Safel  said  to  me : 

"  What  mean  ye  by  this  service,  my  father?  " 

And  I  answered : 

"We  were  slaves  in  Egypt,  my  child,  and  the 


THE   BLOCKADE  279 

Lord  brought  us  forth  with  a  mighty  hand  and  an 
outstretched  arm!  " 

These  words  inspired  us  with  courage ;  we  hoped 
that  God  would  deliver  us  as  He  had  delivered  our 
fathers,  and  that  the  Emperor  would  be  His  right 
arm;  but  we  were  mistaken t  the  Lord  wanted  noth- 
ing more  of  that  maul 


XX 

PEACE 

THE  next  morning,  at  daybreak,  between  six  and 
seven  o'clock,  when  we  were  all  asleep,  the  report 
of  a  cannon  made  our  windows  rattle.  The  enemy 
usually  fired  only  at  night.  I  listened;  a  second 
report  followed  after  a  few  seconds,  then  another, 
then  others,  one  by  one. 

I  rose,  opened  a  window,  and  looked  out.  The 
sun  was  rising  behind  the  arsenal.  Not  a  soul  was 
in  the  street ;  but,  as  one  report  came  after  another, 
doors  and  windows  were  opened ;  men  in  their  shirts 
leaned  out,  listening. 

ISTo  shells  hissed  through  the  air;  the  enemy  fired 
blank  cartridges. 

As  I  listened,  a  great  murmur  came  from  the  dis- 
tance, outside  of  the  city.  First  it  came  from  the 
Mittelbronn  hill,  then  it  reached  the  Bichelberg, 
Quatre- Vents,  the  upper  and  lower  Barracks. 

Sorle  had  just  risen  also ;  I  finished  dressing,  and 
said  to  her: 

280 


THE   BLOCKADE  281 

"  Something  extraordinary  is  going  on — God 
grant  that  it  may  be  for  good !  " 

And  I  went  down  in  great  perturbation. 

It  was  not  a  quarter  of  an  hour  since  the  first 
report,  and  the  whole  city  was  out.  Some  ran  to 
the  ramparts,  others  were  in  groups,  shouting  and 
disputing  at  the  corners  of  the  streets.  Astonish- 
ment, fear,  and  anger  were  depicted  upon  every 
face. 

A  large  number  of  soldiers  were  mingled  with 
the  citizens,  and  all  went  up  together  in  groups  to 
the  right  and  left  of  the  French  gate. 

I  was  about  following  one  of  these  groups,  when 
Burguet  came  down  the  street.  He  looked  thin  and 
emaciated,  as  on  the  day  when  I  saw  him  in  the 
market. 

"  Well!  "  said  I,  running  to  meet  him,  "  this  is 
something  serious!  " 

"  Very  serious,  and  promising  no  good,  Moses !  " 
said  he. 

"  Yes,  it  is  evident,"  said  I,  "  that  the  allies  have 
gained  victories;  it  may  be  that  they  are  in  Paris!  " 

He  turned  around  in  alarm,  and  said  in  a  low 
voice: 

"  Take  care,  Moses,  take  care!  If  any  one  heard 
you,  at  a  moment  like  this,  the  veterans  would  tear 
you  in  pieces! " 


282  THE   BLOCKADE 

I  was  dreadfully  frightened,  for  I  saw  that  he 
was  right,  while,  as  for  him,  his  cheeks  shook.  He 
took  me  by  the  arm  and  said : 

"  I  owe  you  thanks  for  the  provisions  you  sent 
me;  they  came  very  opportunely." 

And  when  I  answered  that  we  should  always 
have  a  morsel  of  bread  at  his  service,  so  long  as  we 
had  any  left,  he  pressed  my  hand;  and  we  went 
together  up  the  street  of  the  infantry  quarters,  as 
far  as  to  the  ice-house  bastion,  where  two  batteries 
had  been  placed  to  command  the  Mittelbronn  hill. 
There  we  could  see  the  road  to  Paris  as  far  as  to 
Petite  Saint  Jean,  and  even  to  Lixheim;  but  those 
great  heaps  of  earth,  called  cavaliers,  were  covered 
with  people;  Baron  Parmentier,  his  assistant  Pipe- 
.  lingre,  the  old  curate  Leth,  and  many  other  men  of 
note  were  there,  in  the  midst  of  the  crowd,  looking 
on  in  silence.  We  had  only  to  see  their  faces  to 
know  that  something  dreadful  was  happening. 

From  this  height  on  the  talus,  we  saw  what  was 
riveting  everybody's  attention.  All  our  enemies, 
Austrians,  Bavarians,  Wurtemburgers,  Russians, 
cavalry  and  infantry  mixed  together,  were  swarm- 
ing around  their  intrenchments  like  ants,  embrac- 
ing each  other,  shaking  hands,  lifting  their  shakos 
on  the  points  of  their  bayonets,  waving  branches  of 
trees  just  beginning  to  turn  green.  Horsemen 


THE   BLOCKADE  283 

dashed  across  the  plain,  with  their  colbacs  on  the 
point  of  their  swords,  and  rending  the  air  with  their 
shouts. 

The  telegraph  was  in  operation  on  the  hill  of 
Saint  Jean;  Burguet  pointed  it  out  to  me. 

"  If  we  understood  those  signals,  Moses,"  said  he, 
"  we  should  know  better  what  was  going  to  happen 
to  us  in  the  next  fortnight." 

Some  persons  having  turned  round  to  listen  to  us, 
we  went  down  again  into  the  streets  of  the  quarters, 
very  thoughtfully. 

The  soldiers  at  the  upper  windows  of  the  barracks 
were  also  looking  out.  Men  and  women  in  great 
numbers  were  collecting  in  the  street. 

We  went  through  the  crowd.  In  the  street  of  the 
Capuchins,  which  was  always  deserted,  Burguet, 
who  was  walking  with  his  head  down,  exclaimed: 

"  So  it  is  all  over !  What  things  have  we  seen  in 
these  last  twenty-five  years,  Moses!  What  aston- 
ishing and  terrible  things !  And  it  is  all  over !  " 

He  took  hold  of  my  hand,  and  looked  at  me  as 
if  he  were  astonished  at  his  own  words;  then  he 
began  to  walk  on. 

"  This  winter  campaign  has  been  frightful  to 
me,"  said  he ;  "  it  has  dragged  along — dragged 
along — and  the  thunder-bolt  did  not  come!  But 
to-morrow,  the  day  after  to-morrow,  what  are  we 


284  THE   BLOCKADE 

going  to  hear?  Is  the  Emperor  dead?  How  will 
that  affect  us?  Will  France  still  be  France?  What 
will  they  leave  us?  What  will  they  take  from  us?  " 

Reflecting  on  these  things,  we  came  in  front  of 
our  house.  Then,  as  if  suddenly  wakened,  Burguet 
said  to  me : 

"  Prudence,  Moses !  If  the  Emperor  is  not  dead, 
the  veterans  will  hold  out  till  the  last  second.  Re- 
member that,  and  whoever  they  suspect  will  have 
everything  to  fear." 

I  thanked  him,  and  went  up,  promising  myself 
that  I  would  follow  his  advice. 

My  wife  and  children  were  waiting  breakfast  for 
me,  with  the  little  basket  of  potatoes  upon  the  table. 
We  sat  down,  and  I  told  them  in  a  low  voice  what 
was  to  be  seen  from  the  top  of  the  ramparts,  and 
charged  them  to  keep  silent,  for  the  danger  was 
not  over;  the  garrison  might  revolt  and  choose  to 
defend  itself,  in  spite  of  the  officers ;  and  those  who 
mixed  themselves  in  these  matters,  either  for  or 
against,  even  only  in  words,  ran  the  risk  of  destruc- 
tion without  profit  to  any  one. 

They  saw  that  I  was  right,  and  I  had  no  need  of 
saying  more. 

We  were  afraid  that  our  sergeant  would  come, 
and  that  we  should  be  obliged  to  answer  him,  if  he 
asked  what  we  thought  of  these  matters;  but  he  did 


THE   BLOCKADE  285 

not  come  in  till  about  eleven,  when  we  had  all  been 
in  bed  for  a  long  time. 

The  next  day  the  news  of  the  entrance  of  the 
allies  to  Paris  was  affixed  to  the  church  doors  and 
the  pillars  of  the  market;  it  was  never  known  by 
whom!  M.  de  Vablerie,  and  three  or  four  other 
emigrants,  capable  of  such  a  deed,  were  spoken 
of  at  the  time,  but  nothing  was  known  with  cer- 
tainty. 

The  mounted  guard  tore  down  the  placards,  but 
unfortunately  not  before  the  soldiers  and  citizens 
had  read  them. 

It  was  something  so  new,  so  incredible,  after  those 
ten  years  of  war,  when  the  Emperor  had  been 
everything,  and  the  nation  had  been,  so  to  speak,  in 
the  shadow;  when  not  a  man  had  dared  to  speak  or 
write  a  word  without  permission;  when  men  had 
had  no  other  rights  than  those  of  paying,  and  giv- 
ing their  sons  as  conscripts, — it  was  such  a  great 
matter  to  think  that  the  Emperor  could  have  been 
conquered,  that  a  man  like  myself  in  the  midst  of 
his  family  shook  his  head  three  or  four  times,  be- 
fore daring  to  breathe  a  single  word. 

So  everybody  kept  quiet,  notwithstanding  the 
placards.  The  officials  stayed  at  home,  so  as  not  to 
have  to  talk  about  it;  the  governor  and  council  of 
defence  did  not  stir;  but  the  last  recruits,  in  the 


286  THE   BLOCKADE 

hope  of  going  home  to  their  villages,  embracing 
their  families,  and  returning  to  their  trades  or  farm- 
ing, did  not  conceal  their  joy,  as  was  very  natural. 
The  veterans,  whose  only  trade  and  only  means  of 
living  was  war,  were  full  of  indignation !  They  did 
not  believe  a  word  of  it;  they  declared  that  the 
reports  were  all  false,  that  the  Emperor  had  not 
lost  a  battle,  and  that  the  placards  and  the  cannon- 
firing  of  the  allies  were  only  a  stratagem  to  make 
us  open  the  gates. 

And  from  that  time,  Fritz,  the  men  began  to 
desert,  not  one  at  a  time,  but  by  sixes,  by  tens,  by 
twenties.  Whole  posts  filed  off  over  the  mountain 
with  their  arms  and  baggage.  The  veterans  fired 
upon  the  deserters;  they  killed  some  of  them,  and 
were  ordered  to  escort  the  conscripts  who  carried 
soup  to  the  outposts. 

During  this  time,  the  flag  of  truce  officers  did 
nothing  but  come  and  go,  one  after  another.  All, 
Russian,  Austrian,  Bavarian,  staff-officers  stayed 
whole  hours  at  the  head-quarters,  having,  no  doubt, 
important  matters  to  discuss. 

Our  sergeant  came  to  our  room  only  for  a  mo- 
ment in  the  evening,  to  complain  of  the  desertions, 
and  we  were  glad  of  it;  Zeffen  was  still  sick,  Sorle 
could  not  leave  her,  and  I  had  to  help  Safel  until 
the  people  went  home. 


THE   BLOCKADE   •  287 

The  shop  was  always  full  of  veterans;  as  soon 
as  one  set  went  away  another  came. 

These  old,  gray-headed  men  swallowed  down 
glass  after  glass  of  brandy;  they  paid  by  turns,  and 
grew  more  and  more  down-hearted.  They  trembled 
with  rage,  and  talked  of  nothing  but  treason,  while 
they  looked  at  you  as  if  they  would  see  through  you. 

Sometimes  they  would  smile  and  say: 

"  I  tell  you !  if  it  is  necessary  to  blow  up  the  for- 
tress, it  will  go !  " 

Safel  and  I  pretended  not  to  understand;  but  you 
can  imagine  our  agony;  after  having  suffered  all 
that  we  had,  to  be  in  danger  of  being  blown  up  with 
those  veterans! 

That  evening  our  sergeant  repeated  word  for 
word  what  the  others  had  said :  "  It  was  all  nothing 
but  lies  and  treason.  The  Emperor  would  put  a 
stop  to  it  by  sweeping  off  this  rabble !  " 

"  Just  wait !  Just  wait !  "  he  exclaimed,  as  he 
smoked  his  pipe,  with  his  teeth  set.  "  It  will  all  be 
cleared  up  soon!  The  thunder-bolt  is  coming! 
And,  this  time,  no  pity,  no  mercy!  All  the  villains 
will  have  to  go  then — all  the  traitors!  The  coun- 
try will  have  to  be  cleansed  for  a  hundred  years! 
Never  mind,  Moses,  we'll  laugh !  " 

You  may  well  suppose  that  we  did  not  feel  like 
laughing. 


288  THE   BLOCKADE 

But  the  day  when  I  was  most  anxious  was  the 
eighth  of  April,  in  the  morning,  when  the  decree  of 
the  Senate,  deposing  the  Emperor,  appeared. 

Our  shop  was  full  of  marine  artillerymen  and 
subalterns  from  the  storehouses.  We  had  just 
served  them,  when  the  secretary  of  the  treasury, 
a  short  stout  man,  with  full  yellow  cheeks,  and  the 
regulation  cap  over  his  ears,  came  in  and  called  for 
a  glass;  he  then  took  the  decree  from  his  pocket. 

"  Listen!  "  said  he,  as  he  began  calmly  to  read  it 
to  the  others. 

It  seems  as  if  I  could  hear  it  now : 

"  "Whereas,  Napoleon  Bonaparte  has  violated  the 
compact  which  bound  him  to  the  French  nation,  by 
levying  taxes  otherwise,  than  in  virtue  of  the  law, 
by  unnecessarily  adjourning  the  Legislative  Body, 
by  illegally  making  many  'decrees  involving  sen- 
tence of  death,  by  annulling  the  authority  of  the 
ministers,  the  independence  of  the  judiciary,  the 
freedom  of  the  press,  etc. ;  Whereas,  Napoleon  has 
filled  up  the  measure  of  the  country's  misfortunes, 
by  his  abuse  of  all  the  means  of  war  committed  to 
him,  in  men  and  money,  and  by  refusing  to  treat  on 
conditions  which  the  national  interest  required  him 
to  accept;  Whereas,  the  manifest  wish  of  all  the 
French  demands  an  order  of  things,  the  first  result 
of  which  shall  be  the  re-establishment  of  general 


THE   BLOCKADE  289 

peace,  and  which  shall  also  be  the  epoch  of  solemn 
reconciliation  between  all  the  States  of  the  great 
European  family,  the  Senate  decrees:  Napoleon 
Bonaparte  has  forfeited  the  throne;  the  right  of 
succession  is  abolished  in  his  family;  the  people 
and  the  army  are  released  from  the  oath  of  alle- 
giance to  him." 

He  had  scarcely  begun  to  read  when  I  thought: 
"  If  that  goes  on  they  will  tear  down  my  shop  over 
my  head." 

In  my  fright,  I  even  sent  Safel  out  hastily  by  the 
back  door.  But  it  all  happened  very  differently 
from  what  I  expected.  These  veterans  despised  the 
Senate ;  they  shrugged  their  shoulders,  and  the  one 
who  read  the  decree  sniffed  at  it,  and  threw  it  under 
the  counter.  "  The  Senate!  "  said  he.  "  What  is 
the  Senate?  A  set  of  hangers-on,  a  set  of  syco- 
phants that  the  Emperor  has  bribed,  right  and  left, 
to  keep  saying  to  him — '  God  bless  you!  ' 

"  Yes,  major,"  said  another;  "  but  they  ought  to 
be  kicked  out  all  the  same." 

"  Bah!  It  is  not  worth  the  trouble,"  replied  the 
sergeant-major;  "  a  fortnight  hence,  when  the  Em- 
peror is  master  again,  they  will  come  and  lick  his 
boots.  Such  men  are  necessary  in  a  dynasty — men 
who  lick  your  boots — it  has  a  good  effect! — espe- 
cially old  nobility,  who  are  paid  thirty  or  forty  thou- 
19 


290  THE   BLOCKADE 

sand  francs  a  year.  They  will  come  back,  and  be 
quiet,  and  the  Emperor  will  pardon  them,  especially 
since  he  cannot  find  others  noble  enough  to  fill  their 
places." 

And  as  they  all  went  away  after  emptying  their 
glasses,  I  thanked  heaven  for  having  given  them 
such  confidence  in  the  Emperor. 

This  confidence  lasted  till  about  the  eleventh  or 
twelfth  of  April,  when  some  officers,  sent  by  the 
general  commanding  the  fourth  military  division, 
came  to  say  that  the  garrison  of  Metz  recognized 
the  Senate  and  followed  its  orders. 

This  was  a  terrible  blow  for  our  veterans.  We 
saw,  that  evening,  by  our  sergeant's  face,  that  it 
was  a  death-blow  to  him.  He  looked  ten  years 
older,  and  you  would  have  wept  merely  to  see  his 
face.  Up  to  that  time  he  had  kept  saying :  "  All 
these  decrees,  all  these  placards  are  acts  of  treason ! 
The  Emperor  is  down  yonder  with  his  army,  all  the 
while,  and  we  are  here  to  support  him.  Don't  fear, 
Father  Moses!  " 

But  since  the  arrival  of  the  officers  from  Metz,  he 
had  lost  his  confidence.  He  came  into  our  room, 
without  speaking,  and  stood  up,  very  pale,  looking 
at  us. 

I  thought:  "But  this  man  loves  us.  He  has 
been  kind  to  us.  He  gave  us  his  fresh  meat  all 


THE   BLOCKADE  291 

through  the  blockade;  he  loved  our  little  David; 
he  fondled  him  on  his  knees.  He  loves  Esdras  too. 
He  is  a  good,  brave  man,  and  here  he  is,  so 
wretched !  " 

I  wanted  to  comfort  him,  to  tell  him  that  he  had 
friends,  that  we  all  loved  him,  that  we  would  make 
sacrifices  to  help  him,  if  he  had  to  change  his  em- 
ployment ;  yes,  I  thought  of  all  this,  but  as  I  looked 
at  him  his  grief  seemed  so  terrible  that  I  could  not 
say  a  word. 

He  took  two  or  three  turns  and  stopped  again, 
then  suddenly  went  out.  His  sorrow  was  too  great, 
he  would  not  even  speak  of  it. 

At  length,  on  the  sixteenth  of  April,  an  armistice 
was  concluded  for  burying  the  dead.  The  bridge  of 
the  German  gate  was  lowered,  and  large  numbers 
of  people  went  out  and  stayed  till  evening,  to  dig 
the  ground  a  little  with  their  spades,  and  try  to 
bring  back  a  few  green  things.  Zeffen  being  all  this 
time  sick,  we  stayed  at  home. 

That  evening  two  new  officers  from  Metz,  sent  as 
envoys,  came  in  at  night  as  the  bridges  were  being 
raised.  They  galloped  along  the  street  to  the  head- 
quarters. I  saw  them  pass. 

The  arrival  of  these  officers  greatly  excited  the 
hopes  and  fears  of  every  one;  important  measures 
were  expected,  and  all  night  long  we  heard  the 


292  THE   BLOCKADE 

sergeant  walk  to  and  fro  in  his  room,  get  up,  walk 
about,  and  lie  down  again,  talking  confusedly  to 
himself. 

The  poor  man  felt  that  a  dreadful  blow  was  com- 
ing, and  he  had  not  a  minute's  rest.  I  heard  him 
lamenting,  and  his  sighs  kept  me  from  sleeping. 

The  next  morning  at  ten  the  assembly  was  beat. 
The  governor  and  the  members  of  the  council  of 
defence  went,  in  full  dress,  to  the  infantry  quarters. 

Everybody  in  the  city  was  at  the  windows. 

Our  sergeant  went  down,  and  I  followed  him  in  a 
few  minutes.  The  street  was  thronged  with  people. 
I  made  my  way  through  the  crowd ;  everybody  kept 
his  place  in  it,  trying  to  move  on. 

When  I  came  in  front  of  the  barracks,  the  com- 
panies had  just  formed  in  a  circle;  the  quarter- 
masters in  the  midst  were  reading  in  a  loud  voice 
the  order  of  the  day;  it  was  the  abdication  of  the 
Emperor,  the  disbanding  of  the  recruits  of  1813  and 
1814,  the  recognition  of  Louis  XVIII.,  the  order  to 
set  up  the  white  flag  and  change  the  cockade! 

Not  a  murmur  was  heard  from  the  ranks;  all  was 
ouiet,  terrible,  frightful!  Those  old  soldiers,  their 
teeth  set,  their  mustaches  shaking,  their  brows 
scowling  fiercely,  presenting  arms  in  silence;  the 
voices  of  the  quartermasters  stopping  now  and  then 
as  if  choking;  the  staff-officers  of  the  place,  at  a 


THE   BLOCKADE  293 

distance  under  the  arch,  sullen,  with  their  eyes  on 
the  ground;  the  eager  attention  of  all  that  crowd 
of  men,  women,  and  children,  through  the  whole 
length  of  the  street,  leaning  forward  on  tiptoe,  with 
open  mouths  and  listening  ears;  all  this,  Fritz, 
would  have  made  you  tremble. 

I  was  on  cooper  Schweyer's  steps,  where  I  could 
see  everything  and  hear  every  word. 

So  long  as  the  order  of  the  day  was  read,  nobody 
stirred;  but  at  the  command: — Break  ranks!  a 
terrible  cry  arose  from  all  directions;  tumult,  con- 
fusion, fury  burst  forth  at  once. 

People  did  not  know  what  they  were  doing.  The 
conscripts  ran  in  files  to  the  postern  gates,  the  old 
soldiers  stood  a  moment,  as  if  rooted  to  the  spot, 
then  their  rage  broke  forth;  one  tore  off  his  epau- 
lettes, another  dashed  his  musket  with  both  hands 
against  the  pavement;  some  officers  doubled  up 
their  sabres  and  swords,  which  snapped  apart  with 
a  crash. 

The  governor  tried  to  speak ;  he  tried  to  form  the 
ranks  again,  but  nobody  heard  him;  the  new  re- 
cruits were  already  in  all  the  rooms  at  the  barracks, 
making  up  their  bundles  to  start  on  their  journey; 
the  old  ones  were  going  to  the  right  and  left,  as  if 
they  were  drunk  or  mad. 

I  saw  some  of  these  old  soldiers  stop  in  a  corner, 


894  THE    BLOCKADE 

lean  their  heads  against  the  wall,  and  weep 
bitterly. 

At  last  all  were  dispersed,  and  protracted  cries 
reached  from  the  barracks  to  the  square,  incessant 
cries,  which  rose  and  fell  like  sighs. 

Some  low,  despairing  shouts  of  "  Vive  VEmpe- 
reur!  "  but  not  a  single  shout  of  "  Vive  le  Roi!  " 

For  my  part,  I  ran  home  to  tell  about  it  all;  I 
had  scarcely  gone  up,  when  the  sergeant  came  also, 
with  his  musket  on  his  shoulder.  We  should  have 
liked  to  congratulate  each  other  on  the  ending  of 
the  blockade,  but  on  seeing  the  sergeant  standing 
at  the  door,  we  were  chilled  to  the  bones,  and  our 
attention  was  fixed  upon  him. 

"  Ah,  well !  "  said  he,  placing  the  butt-end  of  his 
musket  upon  the  floor,  "  it  is  all  ended!  " 

And  for  a  moment  he  said  no  more. 

Then  he  stammered  out:  "  This  is  the  shabbiest 
piece  of  business  in  the  world — the  recruits  are  dis- 
banded— they  are  leaving — France  remains,  bound 
hand  and  foot,  in  the  grip  of  the  kaiserlichs!  Ah! 
the  rascals!  the  rascals!  " 

"  Yes,  sergeant,"  I  replied  with  emotion,  seeing 
that  his  thoughts  must  be  diverted:  "  now  we  are 
going  to  have  peace,  sergeant!  You  have  a  sister 
left  in  the  Jura,  you  will  go  to  her " 

"  Oh!  "  he  exclaimed,  lifting  his  hand,  "  my  poor 
sister! " 


THE   BLOCKADE  295 

This  came  like  a  sob;  but  lie  quickly  recovered 
himself,  and  went  and  placed  his  musket  in  the 
corner  by  the  door. 

He  sat  down  at  the  table  with  us  for  a  moment, 
and  took  up  little  Safel,  drawing  him  to  him  and 
caressing  his  cheeks.  Then  he  wanted  to  hold 
Esdras  also.  We  looked  on  in  silence. 

"  I  am  going  to  leave  you,  Father  Moses,"  said 
he,  "  I  am  going  to  pack  my  bag.  Thunder  and 
lightning!  I  am  sorry  to  leave  you!  " 

"  And  we  are  sorry,  too,  sergeant,"  said  Sorle, 
mournfully;  "  but  if  you  will  live  with  us " 

"  It  is  impossible !  " 

"  Then  you  remain  in  the  service  ? " 

"Service  of  whom — of  what?"  said  he;  "of 
Louis  XVIII.  ?  No !  no !  I  know  no  one  but  my 
general — but  that  makes  it  hard  to  go — when  a 
man  has  done  his  duty " 

He  started  up,  and  shouted  in  a  piercing  voice: 
"  Vive  VEmpereur!  " 

We  trembled,  we  did  not  know  why. 

I  reached  out  my  hand  to  him,  and  rose;  we  em- 
braced each  other  like  brothers. 

"  Good-by,  Father  Moses,"  said  he,  "  good-by  for 
a  long  while." 

"  You  are  going  at  once,  then? n 

"Yes!" 


296  THE   BLOCKADE 

"  You  know,  sergeant,  that  you  will  always  have 
friends  here.  You  will  come  and  see  us.  If  you 
need  anything " 

"  Yes,  yes,  I  know  it.  You  are  true  friends — 
excellent  people!  " 

He  shook  my  hand  vehemently. 

Then  he  took  up  his  musket,  and  we  were  all  fol- 
lowing him,  expressing  our  good  wishes,  when  he 
turned,  with  tears  in  his  eyes,  and  embraced  my 
wife,  saying: 

"  I  must  embrace  you,  too;  there  is  no  harm  in  it, 
is  there,  Madame  Sorle  ?  " 

"  Oh,  no !  "  said  she,  "  you  are  one  of  the  family, 
and  I  will  embrace  Zeffen  for  you !  " 

He  went  out  at  once,  exclaiming  in  a  hoarse  voice, 
"Good-by!  Farewell!" 

I  saw  him  go  into  his  room  at  the  end  of  the  little 
passage. 

Twenty-five  years  of  service,  eight  wounds,  and 
no  bread  in  his  old  age!  My  heart  bled  at  the 
thought  of  it. 

About  a  quarter  of  an  hour  after,  the  sergeant 
came  down  with  his  musket.  Meeting  Safel  on 
the  stairs,  he  said  to  him,  "  Stay,  that  is  for  your 
father!  " 

It  was  the  portrait  of  the  landwehr's  wife  and 
children.  Safel  brought  it  to  me  at  once.  I  took 


THE   BLOCKADE  297 

the  poor  devil's  gift,  and  looked  at  it  for  a  long  time, 
very  sadly;  then  I  shut  it  up  in  the  closet  with  the 
letter. 

It  was  noon,  and,  as  the  gates  were  about  to  be 
opened,  and  abundance  of  provisions  were  to  come, 
we  sat  down  before  a  large  piece  of  boiled  beef, 
with  a  dish  of  potatoes,  and  opened  a  good  bottle  of 
wine. 

We  were  still  eating  when  we  heard  shouts  in  the 
street.  Saf  el  got  up  to  look  out. 

"  A  wounded  soldier  that  they  are  carrying  to  the 
hospital !  "  said  he. 

Then  he  exclaimed,  "  It  is  our  sergeant!  " 

A  horrible  thought  ran  through  my  mind. 
"  Keep  still !  "  I  said  to  Sorle,  who  was  getting  up, 
and  I  went  down  alone. 

Four  marine  gunners  were  carrying  the  litter 
by  on  their  shoulders;  children  were  running 
behind. 

At  the  first  glance  I  recognized  the  sergeant ;  his 
face  perfectly  white  and  his  breast  covered  with 
blood.  He  did  not  move.  The  poor  fellow  had 
gone  from  our  house  to  the  bastion  behind  the  arse- 
nal, to  shoot  himself  through  the  heart. 

I  went  up  so  overwhelmed,  so  sad  and  sorrowful, 
that  I  could  scarcely  stand. 

Sorle  was  waiting  for  me  in  great  agitation. 


298  THE   BLOCKADE 

"  Our  poor  sergeant  has  killed  himself,"  said  I; 
"may  God  forgive  him!  " 

And,  sitting  down,  I  could  not  help  bursting 
into  tears  1 


XXI 

IT  is  said  with  truth  that  misfortunes  never  come 
singly;  one  brings  another  in  its  train.  The  death 
of  our  good  sergeant  was,  however,  the  last. 

That  same  day  the  enemy  withdrew  his  outposts 
to  six  hundred  yards  from  the  city,  the  white  flag 
was  raised  on  the  church,  and  the  gates  were  opened. 

Now,  Fritz,  you  know  about  our  blockade. 
Should  I  tell  you,  in  addition,  about  Baruch's  com- 
ing, of  Zeffen's  cries,  and  the  groanings  of  us  all, 
when  we  had  to  say  to  the  good  man :  "  Our  little 
David  is  dead — thou  wilt  never  see  him  again!  " 

No,  it  is  enough !  If  we  were  to  speak  of  all  the 
miseries  of  war,  and  all  their  consequences  in  after 
years,  there  would  be  no  end! 

I  would  rather  tell  you  of  my  sons  Itzig  and 
Fromel,  and  of  my  Safel,  who  has  gone  to  join  them 
in  America. 

If  I  should  tell  you  of  all  the  wealth  they  have 

acquired  in  that  great  country  of  freemen,  of  the 

lands  they  have  bought,  the  money  they  have  laid 

up,  the  number  of  grandchildren  they  have  given 

299 


300  THE   BLOCKADE 

me,  and  of  all  the  blessings  they  have  heaped  upon 
Sorle  and  myself,  you  would  be  full  of  astonishment 
and  admiration. 

They  have  never  allowed  me  to  want  for  any- 
thing. The  greatest  pleasure  I  can  give  them  is  to 
wish  for  something;  each  of  them  wants  to  send  it 
to  me !  They  do  not  forget  that  by  my  prudent  fore- 
sight I  saved  them  from  the  war. 

I  love  them  all  alike,  Fritz,  and  I  say  of  them, 
like  Jacob: 

"May  the  God  of  Abraham  and  Isaac,  our 
fathers,  the  God  which  fed  me  all  my  life  long  unto 
this  day,  bless  the  lads;  let  them  grow  into  a  multi- 
tude in  the  midst  of  the  earth,  and  their  seed  be- 
come a  multitude  of  national " 


f 

~ 


•     •    iiriiu  II  Mill  INN  Illfllll  Jill 

A     000  103  337    2 


